Initial jobless claims and continuing claims highlights
- prior report. The data was revised higher by 219K to 6867K vs 6648K
- Initial jobless claims 6606K vs 5500K estimate
- 4 week moving average 4265.5 vs 2666.75
- Continuing claims 7455K vs 8236K estimate. The prior week was revised to 6867K vs 6648K estimate
- 4 week moving average moved to 3500K vs 2061K last week
- The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending March 28 (not the current week were in California (+871,992), New York (+286,596), Michigan (+176,329), Florida (+154,171), Georgia (+121,680), Texas (+120,759), and New Jersey (+90,438), while the largest decreases were in Nevada (-20,356), Rhode Island (-8,047), and Minnesota (-6,678).
- The total number of people claiming jobless claims has totaled 16.78 million over the last 3 weeks.
Another higher than expected rise in initial jobless claims. With the prior week revised up 219,000 (remember when it was the actual initial jobless claims number?).
Below is a table of the jobless claims by state for the week of March 28:
The numbers were once again shocking but estimates did range higher so the markets are taking the data in stride.
In addition the Fed announced new steps to provide up to 2.3 trillion in loans including loans to Main Street, municipal liquidity facilities Fed's Powell said that the actions help ensure as vigorous recovery as possible. Powell will speak in front of the Brookings Institute at 10 AM ET. He has done all that he can (or so it seems) to ensure liquidity conditions and funds are available in all markets. The Dow Jones and S&P are up marginally. The NASDAQ is down marginally.
