High-Frequency Update: 9-28-25
U.S. hotel occupancy rate rose last week
Arizona initial claims for unemployment insurance plunged to 2,492 for the week ended September 20, down from 3,792 the prior week. That was down 31.3% over the year and down 32.3% from 2019.
U.S. initial claims for unemployment insurance fell to 180,611 for the week ended September 20, down from 195,433 the prior week. That was down 0.6% over the year but up 3.0% from 2019.
The U.S. hotel occupancy rate rose to 68.1% for the week ended September 20, up from 65.4% the prior week. That was down 1.2% over the year and down 4.5% from 2019.
U.S. movie box office sales plunged to $100.0 million for the week ended September 25, down from $191.0 million the prior week. That was down 6.9% over the year and down 40.8% from 2019. New movie releases were down 46.0% from 2019.
U.S. TSA traveler throughput rose to 17.3 million for the week ended September 20, up from 16.4 million the prior week. That was up 1.1% over the year and up 8.3% from 2019.
Weekly data on Arizona new business applications continue to be published by the Census Bureau, but only on a monthly basis. In August, weekly new business applications ranged from 650 to 850. Overall, applications were up significantly over the year in July.
Data on seated diners at restaurants using the OpenTable app is no longer being updated to compare the current week to 2019 results.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
Demographic / socioeconomic / Census: Housing prices are causing some people to have smaller families than planned (NPR 9/25)
Federal statistics: Is the credibility of US government data at risk? Why it matters to everyone (Brookings 9/24)
Economy: US economy expanded at a surprising 3.8% pace in significant upgrade of second quarter growth (AP 9/25)
Education / early childhood development: Grads on the go: why mobility complicates college accountability (Upjohn 9/25)
Energy / environment / infrastructure: States scramble to plug transportation funding holes (Stateline 9/25)
Housing / real estate: Here’s what happens when private equity buys homes in your neighborhood (NPR 9/9)
Commercial real estate: Lower rates are set to juice the commercial-property market (WSJ 9/22)
Mexico/trade: Trump to put import taxes on pharmaceutical drugs, kitchen cabinets, furniture and heavy trucks (AP 9/26)
Prices/inflation: Understanding inflation via developments in market and nonmarket inflation rates (FRBC 9/22)
Public finance: Half the states don’t have enough money to cover all their bills, report finds (Stateline 9/25)
Workforce/employment/labor market: Do federal layoffs have ripple effects on local economies? (FRBR)