jobless claims rise to 333,000, Consumer prices up 0.1% in August

[papau]

DOL jobless detail still not posted at 9am
http://www.bls.gov/news.release/cpi.toc.htm

Thursday, September 16, 2004 CONSUMER PRICE INDEX: AUGUST 2004
http://www.bls.gov/cpi/

The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) increased
0.1 percent in August, before seasonal adjustment, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. The August level of 189.5 (1982-84=100) was 2.7 percent higher than in August 2003.

The Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers
(CPI-W) also increased 0.1 percent in August, prior to seasonal adjustment. The August level of 185.0 was 2.6 percent higher than in August 2003.

CNN spins - note Bloomberg expected inflation of 0.1% and CNN's report of 0.2% expected.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=530&ncid=530&e=1&u=/ap/20040916/ap_on_bi_go_ec_fi/economy

Consumer Prices Climb; Jobless Claims Up

<snip>Excluding energy and food prices, which can swing widely from month to month, "core" prices also inched up by 0.1 percent in August for the third month in a row. That suggested that most other prices are remaining well behaved, analysts say.

The inflation picture was slightly better than some analysts were expecting. They were forecasting a 0.2 percent rise in both the overall CPI and for core prices.

Separately, new claims filed for unemployment benefits rose last week by a seasonally adjusted 16,000 to 333,000, the department said in a second report.... Neither Hurricane Charley nor Frances effected the increase, a Labor Department analyst said. The 333,000 level of claims was still better than the 340,000 to 346,000 that some analysts were expecting. <snip>

http://quote.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000103&sid=ai9p85RDbYPA&refer=news_index

Consumer Prices in U.S. Probably Rose 0.1 Percent Last Month, Survey Shows
The Labor Department at the same time is expected to report that first-time claims for jobless benefits rebounded to 340,000 last week from 319,000 a week earlier,

[Leilani]

1. Looks like we are still turning the corner!

[chelsea0011]

2. A large, wide sweeping corner which will never end

[da_chimperor]

3. I can't believe that when analyst expectations aren't met

that the media tries to spin it as a good thing. 'Look! We only have 333,000 people vs. an expected 346,000! That's a good thing! We're turning it around!'

I'm by no means an economic expert, but trying to predict anything about the economy is tricky and a bit better than an educated guess on average. It's so stupid that they think that an analyst being wrong means the economy is getting better. What is wrong with these people?

[chelsea0011]

6. Paul Krugman has talked about this misuse of numbers about the deficit

At the beginning of the year he and other economists said that the administration was deliberately inflating deficit amounts higher than expected. At the end of the year what happened was the number was lower as the economists said they would be. This way the administration could say they were lower than originally expected making it sound like better news. One big scam.

[DBoon]

7. The chocolate ration was raised from 30 grammes to 20 grammes!

Orwell understood this best

[mhr]

4. My-O-My. Would Ya Look At That. Seems The Corner Keeps Moving.

eom

[papau]

5. DOL data finally put on the web - below: :-)

http://www.dol.gov/opa/media/press/eta/ui/current.htm

September 16, 2004 UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE WEEKLY CLAIMS REPORT

SEASONALLY ADJUSTED DATA

In the week ending Sept. 11, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 333,000, an increase of 16,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 317,000. The 4-week moving average was 338,000, unchanged from the previous week's revised average of 338,000.

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 2.3 percent for the week ending Sept. 4, unchanged from the prior week's unrevised rate of 2.3 percent.

The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending Sept. 4 was 2,882,000, a decrease of 3,000 from the preceding week's revised level of 2,885,000. The 4-week moving average was 2,883,000, a decrease of 2,500 from the preceding week's revised average of 2,885,500.


UNADJUSTED DATA

The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 248,606 in the week ending Sept. 11, a decrease of 24,749 from the previous week. There were 328,414 initial claims in the comparable week in 2003.

The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate was 2.0 percent during the week ending Sept. 4, a decrease of 0.1 percentage point from the prior week. The advance unadjusted number for persons claiming UI benefits in state programs totaled 2,469,591, a decrease of 124,024 from the preceding week. A year earlier, the rate was 2.5 percent and the volume was 3,173,450.

Extended benefits were not available in any state during the week ending Aug. 28.