Skip to main content

High-Frequency Update: 6-1-25

June 1, 2025
By George W. Hammond, EBRC director and Eller research professor

U.S. movie box office sales skyrocketed last week

Third quarter 2020 forecast update webinar

Arizona initial claims for unemployment insurance ticked up to 3,736 for the week ended May 24, up from 3,687 the prior week. That was down 11.4% over the year and down 9.5% from 2019.

U.S. initial claims for unemployment insurance rose to 212,506 for the week ended May 24, up from 201,764 the prior week. That was up 7.8% over the year and up 7.2% from 2019.

The U.S. hotel occupancy rate rose to 67.5% for the week ended May 24, up from 67.2% the prior week. That was down 0.3% over the year and down 5.2% from 2019.

U.S. movie box office sales skyrocketed to $398.4 million for the week ended May 29, up from $144.8 million the prior week. That was up 146.2% over the year and up 40.5% from 2019. New movie releases were down 52.0% from 2019.

U.S. TSA traveler throughput rose to 18.9 million for the week ended May 24, up from 17.7 million the prior week. That was up 0.5% over the year and up 7.4% from 2019.

Weekly data on Arizona new business applications continue to be published by the Census Bureau, but only on a monthly basis. In April, weekly new business applications ranged from 730 to 1,010. A business application total of 1,010 was very high and represented an increase over the year of 36.5%.

Data on seated diners at restaurants using the OpenTable app is no longer being updated to compare the current week to 2019 results.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: Why is the Federal Reserve independent, and what does that mean in practice? (Brookings 5/23)
Automation / AI: For some recent graduates, the A.I. job apocalypse may already be here (NYT 5/30)
Demographic / socioeconomic / Census: DOGE targets Census Bureau, worrying data users about health of US data infrastructure (AP 5/22)
Economy: Potential US semiconductor manufacturing boom complicated by Trump’s economic policies (AP 5/21)
Education / early childhood development: After-school programs, a boon for learning, could face Trump cuts (NPR 5/27)
Energy / environment / infrastructure: Study: Groundwater loss across Colorado River Basin threatens economic security (ADS 5/28)
Housing / real estate: American homes are shrinking. Why are they still so unaffordable? (WSJ 5/26)
Mexico/trade: Trump announces plan to double tariffs on imported steel to 50% (NPR 5/30)
 Public finance: Why the dollars’ wobble could be self-perpetuating (Reuters 5/28)
Wages/income/wealth: Economic well-being of U.S. households in 2024 (Fed Res 5/28)
Workforce/employment/labor market: Visualized: U.S. employment by industry in 2025 (Visual Capitalist 5/26)

 

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.