Global| Sep 07 2017U.S. Initial Claims for Unemployment Insurance Surge With Hurricane Harvey
by:Tom Moeller
|in:Economy in Brief
Summary
As Hurricane Harvey shut down business activity in Houston and along the Gulf Coast, initial applications for unemployment insurance jumped to 298,000 (14.9% y/y) during the week ended September 2 from an unrevised 236,000 the prior [...]
As Hurricane Harvey shut down business activity in Houston and along the Gulf Coast, initial applications for unemployment insurance jumped to 298,000 (14.9% y/y) during the week ended September 2 from an unrevised 236,000 the prior week. Expectations in the Action Economics Forecast Survey had been for 240,000 claims in the latest week. The four-week moving average increased to 250,250.
Continuing claims for unemployment insurance eased to 1.940 million (-8.7% y/y) in the week ended August 26, after falling to 1.945 million the week before. The four-week moving average of claimants as of August 26 fell to 1.948 million.
Thus, the insured unemployment rate remained at it s record low of 1.4%.
Insured rates of unemployment vary widely across the country. For the week ended August 19, the lowest rates were in South Dakota (0.27%), Nebraska (0.45%), Indiana (0.50%), Utah (0.53%), North Carolina (0.56%) and Tennessee (0.66%). The highest rates were found in California (2.00%), Rhode Island (2.02%), Alaska (2.11%), Pennsylvania (2.16%), Connecticut (2.43%) and New Jersey (2.63%). These state data are not seasonally adjusted.
Data on weekly unemployment insurance are contained in Haver's WEEKLY database and they are summarized monthly in USECON. Data for individual states are in REGIONW. The expectations figure is from the Action Economics Forecast Survey, carried in the AS1REPNA database.
| Unemployment Insurance (SA, 000s) | 09/02/17 | 08/26/17 | 08/19/17 | Y/Y % | 2016 | 2015 | 2014 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Initial Claims | 298 | 236 | 235 | 14.9 | 263 | 278 | 308 |
| Continuing Claims | -- | 1,940 | 1,945 | -8.7 | 2,136 | 2,267 | 2,599 |
| Insured Unemployment Rate (%) | -- | 1.4 | 1.4 |
1.6 |
1.6 | 1.7 | 2.0 |
Tom Moeller
AuthorMore in Author Profile »Prior to joining Haver Analytics in 2000, Mr. Moeller worked as the Economist at Chancellor Capital Management from 1985 to 1999. There, he developed comprehensive economic forecasts and interpreted economic data for equity and fixed income portfolio managers. Also at Chancellor, Mr. Moeller worked as an equity analyst and was responsible for researching and rating companies in the economically sensitive automobile and housing industries for investment in Chancellor’s equity portfolio. Prior to joining Chancellor, Mr. Moeller was an Economist at Citibank from 1979 to 1984. He also analyzed pricing behavior in the metals industry for the Council on Wage and Price Stability in Washington, D.C. In 1999, Mr. Moeller received the award for most accurate forecast from the Forecasters' Club of New York. From 1990 to 1992 he was President of the New York Association for Business Economists. Mr. Moeller earned an M.B.A. in Finance from Fordham University, where he graduated in 1987. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from George Washington University.
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