Jobless Claims - 8:30 am

Full report here UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE WEEKLY CLAIMS REPORT SEASONALLY ADJUSTED DATA In the week ending Oct. 24, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 530,000, a decrease of 1,000 from the previous week's unrevised figure of 531,000. The 4-week moving average was 526,250, a decrease of 6,000 from the previous week's unrevised average of 532,250. The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 4.4 percent for the week ending Oct. 17, a decrease of 0.1 percentage point from the prior week's unrevised rate of 4.5 percent. The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending Oct. 17 was 5,797,000, a decrease of 148,000 from the preceding week's revised level of 5,945,000. The 4-week moving average was 5,960,750, a decrease of 78,750 from the preceding week's revised average of 6,039,500. UNADJUSTED DATA The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 492,456 in the week ending Oct. 24, an increase of 32,026 from the previous week. There were 449,389 initial claims in the comparable week in 2008. The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate was 3.8 percent during the week ending Oct. 17, an increase of 0.1 percentage point from the prior week. The advance unadjusted number for persons claiming UI benefits in state programs totaled 4,968,019, an increase of 51,445 from the preceding week. A year earlier, the rate was 2.4 percent and the volume was 3,233,118. Extended benefits were available in Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, and Wisconsin during the week ending Oct. 10. Initial claims for UI benefits by former Federal civilian employees totaled 1,895 in the week ending Oct. 17, a decrease of 337 from the prior week. There were 2,417 initial claims by newly discharged veterans, a decrease of 231 from the preceding week. There were 21,217 former Federal civilian employees claiming UI benefits for the week ending Oct. 10, an increase of 1,096 from the previous week. Newly discharged veterans claiming benefits totaled 33,081, an increase of 2,343 from the prior week. States reported 3,368,909 persons claiming EUC (Emergency Unemployment Compensation) benefits for the week ending Oct. 10, a decrease of 21,713 from the prior week. There were 1,050,369 claimants in the comparable week in 2008. EUC weekly claims include both first and second tier activity. The highest insured unemployment rates in the week ending Oct. 10 were in Puerto Rico (6.3 percent), Nevada (5.3), Oregon (5.3), Pennsylvania (5.0), Wisconsin (4.8), Arkansas (4.6), California (4.6), Michigan (4.6), North Carolina (4.5), and South Carolina (4.5). The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending Oct. 17 were in California (+5,774), Puerto Rico (+685), Minnesota (+614), Nevada (+366), and Nebraska (+239), while the largest decreases were in Wisconsin (-5,681), New York (-4,711), Pennsylvania (-4,033), Illinois (-3,870), and Oregon (-2,706). More at link with formatted tables

GDP - 8:30 am

Full report here GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT: THIRD QUARTER 2009 (ADVANCE ESTIMATE) Real gross domestic product -- the output of goods and services produced by labor and property located in the United States -- increased at an annual rate of 3.5 percent in the third quarter of 2009, (that is, from the second quarter to the third quarter), according to the "advance" estimate released by the Bureau of Economic Analysis. In the second quarter, real GDP decreased 0.7 percent. The Bureau emphasized that the third-quarter advance estimate released today is based on source data that are incomplete or subject to further revision by the source agency (see the box on page 5). The "second" estimate for the third quarter, based on more complete data, will be released on November 24, 2009. The increase in real GDP in the third quarter primarily reflected positive contributions from personal consumption expenditures (PCE), exports, private inventory investment, federal government spending, and residential fixed investment. Imports, which are a subtraction in the calculation of GDP, increased. The upturn in real GDP in the third quarter primarily reflected upturns in PCE, in private inventory investment, in exports, and in residential fixed investment and a smaller decrease in nonresidential fixed investment that were partly offset by an upturn in imports, a downturn in state and local government spending, and a deceleration in federal government spending. Motor vehicle output added 1.66 percentage points to the third-quarter change in real GDP after adding 0.19 percentage point to the second-quarter change. Final sales of computers subtracted 0.11 percentage point from the third-quarter change in real GDP after subtracting 0.04 percentage point from the second-quarter change. ______________________ FOOTNOTE.--Quarterly estimates are expressed at seasonally adjusted annual rates, unless otherwise specified. Quarter-to-quarter dollar changes are differences between these published estimates. Percent changes are calculated from unrounded data and are annualized. “Real” estimates are in chained (2005) dollars. Price indexes are chain-type measures. This news release is available on BEA’s Web site along with the Technical Note and Highlights related to this release. ______________________ The price index for gross domestic purchases, which measures prices paid by U.S. residents, increased 1.6 percent in the third quarter, compared with an increase of 0.5 percent in the second. Excluding food and energy prices, the price index for gross domestic purchases increased 0.5 percent in the third quarter, compared with an increase of 0.8 percent in the second. Real personal consumption expenditures increased 3.4 percent in the third quarter, in contrast to a decrease of 0.9 percent in the second. Durable goods increased 22.3 percent, in contrast to a decrease of 5.6 percent. The third-quarter increase largely reflected motor vehicle purchases under the Consumer Assistance to Recycle and Save Act of 2009 (popularly called, “Cash for Clunkers” Program). Nondurable goods increased 2.0 percent in the third quarter, in contrast to a decrease of 1.9 percent in the second. Services increased 1.2 percent, compared with an increase of 0.2 percent. Real nonresidential fixed investment decreased 2.5 percent in the third quarter, compared with a decrease of 9.6 percent in the second. Nonresidential structures decreased 9.0 percent, compared with a decrease of 17.3 percent. Equipment and software increased 1.1 percent, in contrast to a decrease of 4.9 percent. Real residential fixed investment increased 23.4 percent, in contrast to a decrease of 23.3 percent. Real exports of goods and services increased 14.7 percent in the third quarter, in contrast to a decrease of 4.1 percent in the second. Real imports of goods and services increased 16.4 percent, in contrast to a decrease of 14.7 percent. Real federal government consumption expenditures and gross investment increased 7.9 percent in the third quarter, compared with an increase of 11.4 percent in the second. National defense increased 8.4 percent, compared with an increase of 14.0 percent. Nondefense increased 6.8 percent, compared with an increase of 6.1 percent. Real state and local government consumption expenditures and gross investment decreased 1.1 percent, in contrast to an increase of 3.9 percent. The change in real private inventories added 0.94 percentage point to the third-quarter change in real GDP after subtracting 1.42 percentage points from the second-quarter change. Private businesses decreased inventories $130.8 billion in the third quarter, following decreases of $160.2 billion in the second quarter and $113.9 billion in the first. Real final sales of domestic product -- GDP less change in private inventories -- increased 2.5 percent in the third quarter, compared with an increase of 0.7 percent in the second. Gross domestic purchases Real gross domestic purchases -- purchases by U.S. residents of goods and services wherever produced -- increased 4.0 percent in the third quarter, in contrast to a decrease of 2.3 percent in the second. Disposition of personal income Current-dollar personal income decreased $15.5 billion (0.5 percent) in the third quarter, in contrast to an increase of $19.1 billion (0.6 percent) in the second. Personal current taxes increased $4.8 billion in the third quarter, in contrast to a decrease of $119.1 billion in the second. The quarterly pattern of taxes reflected a much smaller decrease in federal withheld income taxes in the third quarter, based on the quarterly pattern of wages and salaries and a leveling off of the effects on withholding rates from the Making Work Pay Credit provision of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. (For more information, see the Technical Note.) Disposable personal income decreased $20.4 billion (0.7 percent) in the third quarter, in contrast to an increase of $138.2 billion (5.2 percent) in the second. Real disposable personal income decreased 3.4 percent, in contrast to an increase of 3.8 percent. Personal outlays increased $148.2 billion (5.8 percent) in the third quarter, compared with an increase of $8.2 billion (0.3 percent) in the second. Personal saving -- disposable personal income less personal outlays -- was $364.6 billion in the third quarter, compared with $533.1 billion in the second. The personal saving rate -- saving as a percentage of disposable personal income -- was 3.3 percent in the third quarter, compared with 4.9 percent in the second. For a comparison of personal saving in BEA’s national income and product accounts with personal saving in the Federal Reserve Board’s flow of funds accounts and data on changes in net worth, go to http://www.bea.gov/national/nipaweb/Nipa-Frb.asp. Current-dollar GDP Current-dollar GDP -- the market value of the nation's output of goods and services -- increased 4.3 percent, or $150.3 billion, in the third quarter to a level of $14,301.5 billion. In the second quarter, current-dollar GDP decreased 0.8 percent, or $26.8 billion.