The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 413,920 in the week ending December 21, a decrease of 159 from the previous week. There were 457,578 initial claims in the comparable week in 2012 according to the US Department of Labor. The media reports only the headline number, which is seasonally adjusted hocus pocus that is sometimes misleading. I like to focus on the actual data and look at the big picture trend using the tools of technical analysis. That shows an amazingly consistent trend that has persisted for three and a half years.
Last week’s number was down 9.4% from the same week of 2012. That’s near the middle of the range of the annual percentage change since mid 2010. The Fed’s massive QE3-4 program under way since November 2012 has had NO IMPACT on this trend.
Econ Chart Update- CPI, Jobs, Hourly Earnings, Real Retail Sales Show QE/ZIRP Massive Failure
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