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Initial Jobless Claims: -8K to 355K vs. 370K consensus, 363K prior. Continuing claims -135K to...
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Thursday, November 8, 2012, 8:31 AM ETInitial Jobless Claims: -8K to 355K vs. 370K consensus, 363K prior. Continuing claims -135K to 3.12M.
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http://bloom.bg/T9b3SI
Another relevant blurb.
"Initial claims have been increasingly volatile of late due to data difficulties ranging from state (non) reporting to seasonal effects. The challenges are far from over. Although it's too soon for the effects of Sandy to be felt, they will be soon. Recall the first week after Katrina hit claims rose only 8k but jumped more than 100k in the weeks to follow then remained elevated for months. We expect claims could pop to 450k in the short term. Like last month's non farm payroll report, this is likely the last clean jobless claims report until 2013."
Its always good to cast a skeptical eye at gov figures. Since the gov can't hire angels, they must hire people. People are driven by incentive structures, and those incentives may be in contrast to yours. As such, its always useful to cast an eye of professional skepticism at any data produced by any human in such circumstances.
The people at the BLS may not intend to produce misleading data, but the system in which they operate forces them into that scenario. Storms are a perfect example. One week its low, the next week its high. The volatility comes from the poorly designed system. As long as you recognize that, then you can get a little value out of the reporting.