Jobless Claims Question

[whininguser]

In October, about 2 million Americans filed for jobless claims for the first time, but the gov. said "the number of unemployed persons increased by 558,000 in October". Anyone wants to explain why only 500k but not 2mil people became unemployed in October? Thanks.

 

[Martinghoul]

Where are you getting this from? Are you referring to initial claims or NFP or something else?

 

[Rhody Trader]

Keep in mind that jobless claims and unemployment are not a 1-for-1 sort of thing and that the former will tend to lag the latter due to severence packages, people trying to find new jobs on a quick turn-around, etc.

 

[whininguser]

Where are you getting this from? Are you referring to initial claims or NFP or something else?

Yes, the number is initial claims (released every Thursday):
http://www.bloomberg.com/markets/ecalendar/index.html

Keep in mind that jobless claims and unemployment are not a 1-for-1 sort of thing and that the former will tend to lag the latter due to severence packages, people trying to find new jobs on a quick turn-around, etc.

I see...look likes the ratio has been 4:1 for years (monthly first-time jobless claims : monthly unemployment number), which is quite far from 1:1...