Full text of U.S. Financial Data : May 30, 2002

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May 30, 2002

USFinancialData
THE WEEK’S HIGHLIGHTS:
■ In April, the Conference Board’s help-wanted advertising index rose
1 percentage point to 47 percent (1987=100). The index, which also
measured 47 percent from December 2001 to February 2002, is
down 18 percentage points from a year earlier.
■ The number of individuals filing continuing claims for state
unemployment benefits rose 49,000 to 3,893,000 during the week
ending May 18. Total continuing claims reached its highest level
since early January 1983.
■ Real personal consumption expenditures (PCE) rose 0.2 percent in
April. Consumption of durable goods surged 1.6 percent, while
consumption of services was virtually unchanged and spending on
nondurable goods fell 0.2 percent. The PCE chain-type price index
rose 4.7 percent at an annual rate in April, the largest gain in six
months. Excluding food and energy prices, the PCE price index
rose at a 2.5 percent rate. Measured from a year earlier, the PCE
price index is up 1 percent, while the core PCE is up 1.3 percent.
■ In May, the Conference Board’s index of consumer confidence rose
1.3 percentage points to 109.8 percent (1985=100). Although this
measure of consumer confidence is up 15.2 percentage points since
December 2001, it is down 6.3 percentage points from a year earlier.
■ According to the preliminary estimate, real GDP rose at a 5.6 percent
annual rate during the first quarter of 2002. This estimate was 0.2
percentage points less than the advance estimate released in April.

All data are seasonally adjusted unless otherwise indicated.
U.S. Financial Data is published weekly by the Research Division of the Federal Reserve Bank of
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Information in this publication is also included in the Federal Reserve Economic Data (FRED) data base
on the internet at www.stls.frb.org/fred.