Forex Market - US Retail Sales gain more than expected in May, Jobless Claims rise. | CountingPips Forex & Currency Trading Blog

June 12, 2008 - Forex Economic News

Forex Market - US Retail Sales gain more than expected in May, Jobless Claims rise.

U.S. Retail Sales increased in May by more than anticipated according to a report by the U.S. Commerce Department released today. Advance estimates of retail sales increased 1.0 percent to $385.4 billion in May, beating market forecasts that were predicting a 0.5 percent increase for the month. May's increase in sales follows April's revised increase of 0.4 percent and is 2.5 percent above the retail sales level of May 2007. The March through May period of 2008 retail sales are up by 2.6 percent compared to the same time frame of last year. Contributing to the increase in retail sales for the month were gas station sales which were up 13.8 percent from May 2007 and sales of nonstore retailers which registered a 10.0 percent rise from last year.

U.S. Weekly Jobless Claims increased by 25,000.

U.S. new jobless claims increased by 25,000 people in the week ending June 7th to a seasonally adjusted total of 384,000 according to data released by the U.S. Labor Department. The prior week had registered a revised total of 359,000 claims. A four week moving average of unemployment claims showed an increase of 2,500 workers to a rate of 371,500 down from 369,000. Workers receiving continuing unemployment benefits for the week ending May 31st increased by 58,000 to 3,139,000, up from the week before which saw a revised total of 3,081,000. A four week moving average of continuing claims increased 16,500 from the prior week to 3,099,250. The week prior's moving average registered 3,082,750.

Tags: us retail sales, jobless claims, employment, forex market

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