High-Frequency Update: 4-19-26

April 19, 2026

By George W. Hammond, EBRC research professor

U.S. traveler throughput ticked down last week

Third quarter 2020 forecast update webinar

Arizona initial claims for unemployment insurance rose to 3,622 for the week ended April 11, up from 2,967 the prior week. That was down 18.4% over the year and down 38.1% from 2019.

U.S. weekly initial claims for unemployment insurance rose to 213,873 for the week ended April 11, up from 201,757 the prior week. That was down 3.2% over the year but up 8.9% from 2019.

The U.S. hotel occupancy rate rose to 64.9% for the week ended April 11, up from 60.6% the prior week. That was down 1.1% over the year and down 7.2% from 2019.

U.S. movie box office sales fell to $158.5 million for the week ended April 16, down from $278.1 million the prior week. That was down 26.5% over the year and down 2.2% from 2019. New movie releases were down 58.0% from 2019.

U.S. TSA traveler throughput ticked down to 17.4 million for the week ended April 11, down from 17.5 million the prior week. That was up 0.1% over the year and up 6.7% from 2019.

Weekly data on Arizona new business applications continue to be published by the Census Bureau, but only on a monthly basis. Weekly data for March ranged from 820 to 870. Overall, new business applications remain strong, compared to pre-pandemic levels, but have weakened compared to 2023.

Data on seated diners at restaurants using the OpenTable app is no longer being updated to compare the current week to 2019 results.

As of October 15, 2022, Google stopped updating mobility data.

Key News Articles and Research (subscription may be required)

Curated by Valorie Rice, Senior Business Information Specialist

Arizona and general topics: Arizona has become one of the least affordable states, report says (KJZZ 4/14)
Automation / AI: Will AI investments pay off? (FRBR)
Demographic / socioeconomic / Census: SNAP work requirements don’t boost jobs, but drop participation, research finds (Stateline 4/10)
Federal statistics: Why did people stop responding to federal economic surveys? What can be done? (Brookings 4/14)
Economy: Modeling the U.S. economy (FRBSL 4/15)
Education / early childhood development: Universal Pre-K offers a solution to rebuilding public school enrollment (Urban Inst 3/31)
Energy / environment / infrastructure: Big cuts are coming for Colorado River water. This Arizona town will feel them first (KJZZ 4/17)
Housing / real estate: What millions of homeowner’s insurance contracts reveal about risk sharing (FRBNY 4/13)
Commercial real estate: Office buildings are disappearing. There’s one big reason why. (PBJ 4/10)
Mexico/trade: The US supply chain shakeup after tariffs, in five charts (HBS 4/15)
Prices/inflation: A new model of trend inflation using disaggregates, survey expectations, and uncertainty (FRBC 3/24)
Wages/income/wealth: How inflation is eating your wages (WSJ 4/10)
Workforce/employment/labor market: Restaurants are finding it harder than ever to hire someone to wash the dishes (WSJ 4/12)

Weekly Indicators

Use your cursor as a tooltip and click on charts to view values. Click on the names of indicators listed at the bottom any chart to switch them on/off to view fewer at one time and make comparisons. Icons allow you to download and share.

Note: The official initial claims for unemployment insurance numbers for the U.S. are released every Thursday morning covering the week ending on the previous Saturday.

The U.S. Census Bureau continues to produce weekly estimates; however, the weekly estimate files are published as part of the Monthly Business Formation Statistics (BFS) Release.One key dataset with these estimates is High-Propensity Business Applications, a subset of total weekly business applications in Arizona that measures the number of applications with a high-propensity of turning into a business with a payroll, based on various factors. These data reflect weekly applications for Employer Identification Numbers (EINs) in Arizona which are likely to result in employment and wages. These include applications: (a) from a corporate entity, (b) that indicate they are hiring employees, purchasing a business or changing organizational type, (c) that provide a first wages-paid date (planned wages); or (d) that have a NAICS industry code in manufacturing (31-33), retail stores (44), health care (62), or restaurants/food service (72). Applications for EINs occur before the jobs and wages are added, so this is a leading indicator. Read more about the Business Application dataset from the U.S. Census Bureau.