Unemployment higher. Prior week revised HIGHER. Read highlights for clear BLS(Bureau of labor stats) manipulation 10/14/10

Published: Thursday, 14 Oct 2010 | 8:37 AM ET
By: CNBC.com staff and wire


Weekly jobless claims, headline inflation and the US trade deficit all moved higher, according to data released Thursday that posed more questions for the economic recovery.



The number of people filing new claims for unemployment insurance rose to a higher-than-expected 462,000 in the latest week, the Labor Department said on Thursday, while the number of people still collecting jobless benefits fell to an almost two-year low.

First-time jobless claims rose 13,000 in the week ended Oct. 9 from the prior week's upwardly revised 449,000 seasonally adjusted claims. The four-week average of first-time jobless benefits, which economists prefer because it smoothes out weekly fluctuations, rose 2,250 to 459,000.
Economists had expected about initial 445,000 claims in the latest week.

Here is the article from last week where the headline read that jobless claims "unexpectedly" fell! The claim was that jobless claims fell by 3,000 but this week they were revised UP by 4,000. This headline correlated with a 200 point rally in the DOW. This is BLS manipulation!

New U.S. claims for unemployment benefits unexpectedly fell last week, touching their lowest level in nearly three months, according to a government report on Thursday that pointed to some stability in the troubled labor market. STORY: TABLE: KEY POINTS: * Initial claims for state unemployment benefits dropped 11,000 to a seasonally adjusted 445,000, the lowest since the July 10 week - Article from CNBC 10/7/10



The number of unemployed workers continuing to collect insurance benefits fell 112,000 to 4.399 million in the week ended Oct. 2, the lowest level since November 2008. The four-week average of continuing claims fell 34,500 to 4.489 million. Economists were expecting about 4.450 million continuing claims.

The unemployment rate of workers eligible for jobless benefits from the government fell to 3.5 percent from 3.6 percent in the prior week.

Meanwhile, rising food and energy prices pushed inflation at the wholesale level up twice as fast as expected last month, and prices excluding those staples rose at the fastest annual pace in a year, data released by the Labor Department showed on Thursday.

The overall producer price index rose 0.4 percent in September and the core index, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, rose 0.1 percent in the month. Economists polled by Reuters had expected overall prices to rise just 0.2 percent and the core producer price index to rise 0.1 percent in September.

Wholesale prices over the past year also rose faster than expected. Overall prices rose 4.0 percent from a year ago, compared to a 3.7 percent forecast. Core prices rose 1.6 percent over the past 12 months, the fastest pace since September 2009 and slightly faster than the 1.5 percent expected pace.

The Labor Department said food costs rose 1.2 percent in September after falling 0.3 percent in August. Energy prices rose 0.5 percent in September after rising 2.2 percent in August.

Also, the U.S. trade deficit widened sharply in August, reflecting a surge in imports of consumer products as businesses restocked their shelves in hopes of a pickup in consumer demand.

The politically sensitive deficit with China climbed to an all-time high, a development that was certain to increase pressure on the Obama administration to take a tougher line on trade issues including China's tightly controlled currency.

The Commerce Department says the deficit in August increased 8.8 percent to $46.3 billion. Exports edged up a slight 0.2 percent but this increase was swamped by a 2.1 percent jump in imports. Also, the U.S. trade deficit widened sharply in August, reflecting a surge in imports of consumer products as businesses restocked their shelves in hopes of a pickup in consumer demand.