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8:29am 06/10/04 U.S. 4-WEEK AVG INITIAL JOBLESS CLAIMS RISE TO 346,000
8:29am 06/10/04 U.S. WEEKLY INITIAL JOBLESS CLAIMS UP 12,000 TO 352,000
8:30am 06/10/04 U.S. CONTINUING JOBLESS CLAIMS FALL106,000 TO 2.88 MLN
8:30am 06/10/04 U.S. INSURED UNEMPLOYMENT RATE FALLS TO 2.3%
8:30am 06/10/04 U.S. MAY IMPORT PRICE INDEX RISES 1.6%
8:30am 06/10/04 U.S. MAY EXPORT PRICE INDEX UP 0.3%
8:30am 06/10/04 U.S. MAY IMPORTED PETROLEUM PRICE UP 10.3%
8:30am 06/10/04 U.S. IMPORT PRICES UP 7% YEAR-OVER-YEAR
8:30am 06/10/04 U.S. EXPORT PRICES UP 4.3% Y-O-Y, MOST IN 10 YEARS

ECONOMIC REPORT: Jobless claims at six-week high; Continuing claims fall to a three-year low
By Rex Nutting, CBS.MarketWatch.com
Last Update: 8:31 AM ET June 10, 2004

WASHINGTON (CBS.MW) -- The average number of workers filing initial state unemployment claims over the past four weeks rose by 4,750 to a six-week high of 346,000 last week, the Labor Department reported Thursday.

Initial claims in the most recent week rose by 12,000 to 352,000, a seven-week high, the agency said. Economists were predicting a drop to about 336,000.

Meanwhile, the number of Americans receiving unemployment checks fell by 106,000 in the week ending May 29 to 2.88 million, the lowest level in three years. It's the largest decline in continuing claims since the first week of the year. Read the full release.

The insured unemployment rate dropped to 2.3 percent from 2.4 percent.

The drop in continuing claims likely stemmed from increased hiring as well as the high rate of workers exhausting benefits before finding work. At the same time, layoffs remain somewhat elevated for this phase in a recovery.

In a separate report, the Labor Department said import prices rose 1.6 percent in May, the fastest rate in 16 months, on higher petroleum, natural-gas and steel prices. Export prices are now up 4.3 percent year-over-year, the biggest rise in 10 years by that measure. See full story.

Weekly jobless-claims data are extremely volatile, so economists recommend looking at longer trends, such as the four-week average, to get a better handle on the labor market.

After sinking by about 40,000 between August and December to about 360,000, the average number of new weekly claims has bounced between 335,000 and 355,000 for the past three months.

Economists say claims at this level are consistent with monthly job growth of about 200,000. Over the past three months, nonfarm payrolls have increased by an average of about 315,000.

The weekly jobless-claims figures don't say anything about hiring, only about involuntary job losses. Increasing numbers of workers are not eligible for unemployment benefits even if they lose jobs through no fault of their own.

Long-term joblessness has been especially persistent during this recovery. Novertheless, the federal government has ended its program of providing benefits beyond the typical 26 weeks provided by the states.

In May, of the 8.2 million jobless Americans, 1.79 million had been out of work longer than six months. The average duration of unemployment rose to 20 weeks from 19.7 weeks, while the median duration rose to 10 weeks from 9.5 weeks. The extent and duration of long-term unemployment remains near 20-year highs.

The official unemployment figures do not include those who've given up looking for work or who have taken part-time jobs instead of the full-time work they had sought.


ECONOMIC REPORT: Import prices soar on petroleum; Export prices rising at fastest rate in 10 years
By Rex Nutting, CBS.MarketWatch.com
Last Update: 9:18 AM ET June 10, 2004

WASHINGTON (CBS.MW) - Driven by higher oil prices, prices of imports to the United States jumped 1.6 percent in May, the biggest increase in 16 months, the Labor Department estimated Thursday.

Prices of imports are up 7 percent in the past 12 months, the fastest year-over-year gain since February 2003.

Prices of exports rose 0.3 percent in May and are up 4.3 percent in the past year, the biggest gain in 10 years. Read the full release.

The government had been encouraging a weaker dollar for most of the past year to help exporters and fight the threat of deflation. A weaker dollar boosts the competitiveness of U.S. exports, allowing producers to raise their prices in dollar terms while keeping them constant in local currencies.

The weaker dollar also boosts the prices of imports, unless foreign producers were willing to cut prices measured in their own currencies. The ensuing imported inflation was an explicit goal of the Federal Reserve.

Petroleum was the big story in May, with the price of imports rising 10.3 percent, the largest gain in 16 months. Natural gas prices rose 4.9 percent.

Excluding petroleum, import prices rose a more modest 0.4 percent in May and 3 percent over the year.

Sharply higher prices were seen in industrial materials and supplies, but prices of imported finished capital and consumer goods barely budged.

Excluding fuels, imported industrial materials and supplies prices rose 1.8 percent in May, including an 8.7 percent rise in steel and iron prices. Chemical prices fell.

With fuel prices soaring, prices of imports from Canada rose 1.6 percent while imports from Latin American increased 1.9 percent.

Prices of imports from Japan rose 0.2 percent, bringing the year-over-year gain to 1.4 percent, the most in four years.

Imports from the European Union were unchanged, but the year-over-year gain was 6.4 percent, the most in nine years.

On the export side, agricultural export prices 0.5 percent, putting the year-over-year change at 20.9 percent. Exports excluding agricultural products rose 0.2 percent. Prices of exported capital goods, autos and consumer goods were unchanged.

In a separate report, the Labor Department had mixed news on jobless claims. While continuing claims fell by 106,000 to 2.88 million, the lowest in three years, the average number of first-time claims over the past four weeks rose to its highest level in six weeks at 346,000 per week.