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8:30am 04/22/04 U.S. 4-WEEK AVG INITIAL JOBLESS CLAIMS RISE 347,000
8:30am 04/22/04 U.S. WEEKLY INITIAL CLAIMS FALL 9,000 TO 353,000
8:30am 04/22/04 U.S. MARCH CORE PPI UP 0.2% AS EXPECTED
8:29am 04/22/04 U.S. MARCH PPI UP 0.5% AS EXPECTED
8:30am 04/22/04 U.S. MARCH CRUDE GOODS PRICES UP 0.7%

U.S. average jobless claims highest in 7 weeks
WASHINGTON (CBS.MW) -- The four-week average of first-time claims for state unemployment benefits rose by 2,250 to a seven-week high of 347,000 in the week ending April 17, the Labor Department said Thursday.
New claims in the week ending April 17 fell by 9,000 to 353,000.
The number of workers receiving benefits rose by 52,000 to 3.02 million in the week ending April 10.

U.S. March PPI up 0.5% on food prices
WASHINGTON (CBS.MW) - Wholesale food prices jumped in March, driving the U.S. producer price index up 0.5 percent, the Labor Department estimated Thursday.
Core producer prices for finished goods (excluding food and energy goods) rose 0.2 percent.
The increases in the PPI and the core PPI matched expectations of Wall Street economists surveyed by CBS MarketWatch.
The PPI and the core PPI had risen 0.1 percent in February. Finished food prices rose 1.5 percent in March, the most in five months.
Intermediate-goods prices rose 0.7 percent after rising 0.9 percent in February.
The core intermediate goods PPI increased 0.6 percent.
Prices of crude goods increased 0.7 percent in March after soaring more than 2 percent in five of the past six months.

ECONOMIC REPORT: Initial jobless claims at 7-week high
By Rex Nutting, CBS.MarketWatch.com
Last Update: 8:34 AM ET April 22, 2004

WASHINGTON (CBS.MW) - The average number of new claims for state unemployment benefits over the past four weeks rose by 2,250 to a seven-week high of 347,000, the Labor Department reported Thursday.

Initial claims in the week ending April 17 fell by 9,000 to 353,000, the government said.

Economists say the four-week average provides a better gauge of the job-loss side of the labor market than the volatile weekly number, which is subject to large revisions and can be skewed by one-time factors such as weather or holidays.

A Labor Department official said there were no special factors this week. Last week, he said jobless claims in the first week of April and around the Easter holiday are often encumbered by significant problems in seasonally adjusting the data

Meanwhile, the number of unemployed workers receiving state benefits increased by 52,000 to 3.02 million in the week ending April 10.

The figures show little improvement in the labor market over the past month. The most recent data were collected during the same week that government surveyors canvass workers and businesses for the monthly employment statistics.

In March, the unemployment rate rose to 5.7 percent, despite the best payroll growth in four years. Payrolls increased by 308,000 in March.

The jobless claims data cover layoffs and other involuntary losses of jobs, but do not directly measure hiring. Some economists say the 500,000 drop in continuing claims over the past six months reflects stronger hiring, but others say many claimants have simply exhausted their benefits without finding work.

Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan said Wednesday that 85,000 workers exhaust their benefits each week. Most workers are eligible for up to 26 weeks of benefits.

A federal program that provided extra benefits beyond the 26 weeks has expired. Only 53,000 workers were receiving federal benefits in the week ending April 3, down from about 900,000 at its peak.

In March, 1.99 million of the 8.35 million unemployed Americans had been out of work longer than 26 weeks, the highest percentage of long-term joblessness in 20 years. The figures do not include those who have given up looking for work.