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High-Frequency Update: 9-22-24

Sept. 22, 2024
By George W. Hammond, EBRC director and Eller research professor

The U.S. hotel occupancy rate bounced up last week

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Arizona initial claims for unemployment insurance rose modestly to 3,561 for the week ended September 14, up from 3,445 the prior week.That was up 9.4% over the year but down 2.3% from 2019.

U.S. initial claims for unemployment insurance bounced up to 184,845 for the week ended September 14, up from 178,409 the prior week. That was up 4.7% over the year and up 6.8% from 2019.

The U.S. hotel occupancy rate rose to 66.6% for the week ended September 14, up from 57.8% the prior week. That was down 1.6% over the year and down 4.3% from 2019.

U.S. movie box office sales dropped to $122.5 million for the week ended September 19, down from $187.0 million the prior week. That was up 46.3% over the year but down 18.1% from 2019. New movie releases were down 55.5% from 2019.

U.S. TSA traveler throughput rose modestly to 16.3 million for the week ended September 19, up from 16.2 million the prior week. That was up 0.6% over the year and up 5.7% from 2019.

Arizona new business applications dropped to 710 for the week ended August 31, down from 720 the prior week. That was down 1.4% over the year.

Data on seated diners at restaurants using the OpenTable app is no longer being updated to compare the current week to 2019 results.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: Phoenix bioscience boom poised to improve health care and local economy, proponents say (AR 9/16)
Demographic / socioeconomic / Census: 1 in 8 U.S. homeowners aren’t protected by homeowners insurance (NBC 9/17)
Economy: US retail sales ticked up last month in sign of ongoing consumer resilience (AP 9/17)
Education / early childhood development: Who benefits from Colorado’s new free college program? (Urban Inst 9/13)
Energy / environment / infrastructure: Phoenix Sky Harbor now ranks among top 3 US airports, report says (PBJ 9/18)
Housing / real estate: Rent is eating up a greater share of tenants’ income in almost every state (Stateline 9/12)
Public finance: State revenues show sluggish growth through the first six months of 2024 (Urban Inst 9/17)
Wages/income/wealth: Regional Spotlight: Wage inequality across the U.S. (FRBP)
Workforce/employment/labor market: The labor market impact of deportations (Brookings 9/18)

 

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.

Note: See (http://www.eia.doe.gov/oil_gas/petroleum/data_publications/wrgp/mogas_home_page.html) for further definitions. Regular Gasoline has an antiknock index (average of the research octane rating and the motor octane number) greater than or equal to 85 and less than 88. Octane requirements may vary by altitude.

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.