Jobless Claims, Factory Gauge Show Virus Filtering to U.S. Data

(Bloomberg) -- The deep impact of the coronavirus pandemic is beginning to manifest in more U.S. economic data.

Applications for unemployment benefits jumped by 70,000 last week, the largest increase since the aftermath of superstorm Sandy in November 2012, according to the Labor Department. A separate report Thursday from the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia showed a gauge of manufacturing in the region suffered its largest-ever slump in March.

Stocks initially fell on Thursday before rallying as investors digested a battery of economic and financial measures from global policy makers aimed at easing the market turmoil.

The surge in jobless claims will almost certainly be dwarfed in upcoming weeks, with state employment offices already report massive increases in filings. As states and municipalities take sweeping social-distancing measures to counter the spread of the virus, many businesses are closing.

What Bloomberg’s Economists Say

“A 70,00 surge in jobless claims for the employment survey week, which ended March 14, is only the tip of the iceberg for what is to come. Claims will move sharply higher in the coming weeks amid coronavirus-related disruptions and business closures, giving policy makers a sense of the speed and magnitude of economic deterioration.”

-- Eliza Winger, Carl Riccadonna and Yelena Shulyatyeva

Read more: Jobless Claims Set for Historic Jump Amid Virus

It’s no surprise that American consumers are growing increasingly anxious. The Bloomberg Consumer Comfort monthly gauge of economic expectations sank in March by the most since the depths of the last recession, according to data out Thursday. In February, the measure was at its highest level in more than a year.

While jobless claims jumped to a two-year high of 281,000 in the week ended March 14, the Philadelphia Fed’s measure of manufacturing in eastern Pennsylvania, Delaware and part of New Jersey sank. The general activity index slumped to minus 12.7 from positive 36.7 the prior month, a whopping 49.4-point collapse that underscores the rapidity with which the economy is deteriorating.

The figures follow a New York Fed report earlier this week that showed its gauge of manufacturing in the state also down by the most ever.

The Philadelphia Fed’s index of new orders contracted by the most since June 2012, while shipments and the average moved closer to stagnation.

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