US jobless claims jump unexpectedly wk. ending May 11, 2013, exceed all forecasts. Housing starts slump 16.5%, most since Feb. 2011

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5/16/13, "Jobless Claims in U.S. Jump to Highest Level in Six Weeks," Bloomberg, via SF Gate, Chandra and Kowalski

"Jobless claims jumped by 32,000 to 360,000 in the week ended May 11, exceeding all forecasts in a Bloomberg survey of economists and the most since the end of March, Labor Department figures showed today in Washington. A Labor Department spokesman said no state provided information explaining the surge in applications which was the biggest since the aftermath of superstorm Sandy in November....

“It’s a reflection of what’s happening in the economy,” Millan Mulraine, an economist for TD Securities USA LLC in New York, said before the report. “Growth has slowed. We’re likely to see the labor market going sideways until there’s an improvement in demand.”

The median forecast of 50 economists surveyed by Bloomberg called for a rise to 330,000. Estimates ranged from 315,000 to 355,000. The Labor Department revised the previous week’s figure to 328,000 from an initially reported 323,000. The four-week moving average, a less volatile measure than the weekly figures, rose to 339,250 last week from 338,000....

Housing Starts

Housing starts slumped 16.5 percent, the most since February 2011, to an 853,000 annualized rate after a revised 1.02 million pace in March. The median estimate of 81 economists surveyed by Bloomberg was for a 970,000 rate....

The number of people continuing to receive jobless benefits fell by 4,000 to 3.01 million in the week ended May 4, according to the report on applications for jobless benefits. The continuing claims figure does not include the number of Americans receiving extended benefits under federal programs.

Those who’ve used up their traditional benefits and are now collecting emergency and extended payments increased by about 29,000 to 1.79 million in the week ended April 27.

The unemployment rate among people eligible for benefits held at 2.3 percent in the week ended May 4, today’s report showed."...

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5/16/13, "Tragic Trifecta: Initial Claims Soar, Housing Starts Plunge, CPI Below Expectations," Zero Hedge (with charts)

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Ed. note: The white bars you see on this post were put there by my long time illegal hackers, google. Like their pals at the IRS, they know they can only win by silencing all opposition.