by Calculated Risk on 9/15/2011 08:30:00 AM

• From the NY Fed: Empire State Manufacturing Survey: "The Empire State Manufacturing
Survey indicates that conditions for New York manufacturers worsened for a fourth consecutive month in September. The general business conditions index inched down one point, to -8.8." This was lower than expectations of a reading of -3.6.

• CPI increased 0.4% in August (0.2% core). I'll have more later on the Fed survey and CPI.

• The DOL reports:

In the week ending September 10, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 428,000, an increase of 11,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 417,000. The 4-week moving average was 419,500, an increase of 4,000 from the previous week's revised average of 415,500.

The following graph shows the 4-week moving average of weekly claims since January 2000 (longer term graph in graph gallery).

Click on graph for larger image in graph gallery.

The dashed line on the graph is the current 4-week average. The four-week average of weekly unemployment claims increased this week to 419,500.

The 4-week average has been increasing recently and this is the highest level since early July.