U.S. Jobless Claims Fall to 787K In Dec. 26 Week
12/31/2020 | 09:48am EDT
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Message : By Kim Mackrael New unemployment filings fell to 787,000 during a holiday week clouded with uncertainty around impending changes to benefit payments.
Provided by Dow Jones
By Kim Mackrael New applications for unemployment assistance fell last week, a sign of modest improvement during a holiday period clouded with uncertainty around impending changes to benefit payments. Weekly initial claims for jobless benefits from regular state programs, a proxy for layoffs, declined by 19,000 to a seasonally adjusted 787,000 in the week ended Dec. 26, the Labor Department said Thursday. That marked a second consecutive decline from the three-month high recorded earlier in December, when virus cases were surging and more jurisdictions were bringing back economic restrictions to control the spread of the coronavirus. Last week s level remains higher than any recorded before this year, although it is down sharply from a peak of nearly 7 million in late March. The four-week average of claims, which smooths volatile data, rose to the highest level since early October.
Provided by Dow Jones
By Kim Mackrael New applications for unemployment assistance fell last week, a sign of modest improvement during a holiday period clouded with uncertainty around impending changes to benefit payments. Weekly initial claims for jobless benefits from regular state programs, a proxy for layoffs, declined by 19,000 to a seasonally adjusted 787,000 in the week ended Dec. 26, the Labor Department said Thursday. That marked a second consecutive decline from the three-month high recorded earlier in December, when virus cases were surging and more jurisdictions were bringing back economic restrictions to control the spread of the coronavirus. Last week s level remains higher than any recorded before this year, although it is down sharply from a peak of nearly 7 million in late March. The four-week average of claims, which smooths volatile data, rose to the highest level since early October.
Canada Retail Sales Rose 0.4% in October
12/18/2020 | 09:00am EDT
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Message : By Kim Mackrael OTTAWA Canadian retail sales advanced for a sixth consecutive month in October, led by growth in the automotive sector. Retail sales rose 0.4% in October to 54.59 billion Canadian dollars, or the equivalent of US$42.92 billion, Statistics Canada said Friday. Market expectations were for a flat reading, according to Desjardins Securities, and Statistics Canada said last month it estimated that retail sales for October would be relatively unchanged. In volume, or price-adjusted, terms, October retail sales edged up 0.2% from the previous month. The data agency revised September s retail data to indicate a 1.9% advance in the month, compared with an earlier estimate of a 1.1% increase.
Provided by Dow Jones By Kim Mackrael OTTAWA Canada s annual inflation rate accelerated in November at a faster-than-anticipated pace, with shelter prices contributing the most to the overall increase. Canada s consumer-price index rose 1.0% on a year-over-year basis in November, Statistics Canada said Wednesday, versus a 0.7% advance in the previous month. Market expectations were for a 0.8% increase, according to economists from Capital Economics. On a month-over-month basis, prices climbed 0.1% in November. Meanwhile, the Bank of Canada s preferred measures for underlying inflation were unchanged from the previous month, according to Statistics Canada, with the average core CPI in October coming in at 1.7%. Core inflation is meant to gauge price changes in items that exclude volatile goods like food and energy.