- by New Deal democrat
This morning we got the final economic news of the year, as initial claims for the week rose 9,000 to 225,000. The 4 week moving average declined 250 to 221,000. Continuing claims rose 41,000 to 1,710,000, a 10 month high:
The weekly number was actually 14,000 higher than one year ago, but that is not significant. The 4 week average and the continuing claims numbers both remained below their levels from the end of last year:
So this series closes out the year still positive.
At the same time, beginning next week the YoY comparisons get more challenging. To reiterate, I’ll raise a “yellow flag” caution if the 4 week moving average turns higher YoY. I won’t raise a recessionary “red flag” unless and until the average is higher by 10% or more YoY.
I plan on posting my final “Covoravirus dashboard” for the year tomorrow, and my normal “Weekly Indicators” over the weekend, before we start the new year.
