In alt.home.repair, on Fri, 7 May 2021 14:08:57 -0700 (PDT), trader_4
wrote:

On Friday, May 7, 2021 at 4:15:42 PM UTC-4, Bob F wrote:
On 5/7/2021 12:55 PM, micky wrote:
In alt.home.repair, on Fri, 7 May 2021 12:28:30 -0700 (PDT),
" wrote:

On Friday, May 7, 2021 at 2:11:23 PM UTC-4, micky wrote:
OT Why does the press routinely report the number of new applications
for unemployment insurance for the week (or the day?), and whether the
number has gone up or down?

It seems to me that the number of NEW cases in any period is almost
random, depending on when employers decide they have to lay people off,
and that's influenced by a dozen factors. Therefore it can go up or down
without meaning anything.

If you graph those numbers, they can show a trend even if there's some
jitter in the data.

Cindy Hamilton

But don't they know the total number getting unemployment and if they
reported that it would be a better measure, both on a graph or without a
graph.

New applications lead actual unemployment numbers, and includes people
not accepted for unemployment for various reasons.

And, they do report unemployment numbers.

+1

The total number receiving unemployment is also affected not only by new
applications, but also by people leaving because they found work or they
gave up looking. So new applications is the best indicator of how many just
lost their jobs. The numbers for the whole country taken together are not
random either. It's looked at as one important indicator, by investors,
business economists, the FED, etc



I'm not convinced, but I'm pleased that you all have answers to the
question.