Today’s Economic Shakers

 

Initial jobless claims fell less than forecast last week...

The Labor Department reported its weekly unemployment data this morning, and while the number of new claimants dropped by 3,000, it still fell lower than analysts had expected.

Overall, the total number of those who applied for unemployment benefits for last week was reported at 258,000, which was below the average of a Marketwatch economist survey which had projected a decline to 247,000.

Despite the miss from analyst forecasts, initial jobless claims still fell well below the benchmark of 300,000 which is regarded as the level that new unemployment claims must fall beneath for a healthy economy.

New unemployment claims have now remained below that metric for a streak of 108 consecutive weeks, which now makes it the longest stretch in nearly 50 years.

The government data also showed that the more stable measure of initial jobless claims for the most recent 4-week period increased to 245,250.

That marked an increase for new unemployment applications of 7,750, which placed the 4-week average at its highest levels in three months.

Additionally, the Labor Department report showed that there was an increase in the total number of continuing jobless claims, with the number of those already on the books for collecting unemployment benefits rising to 2.1 million. That marked an increase in that category of 65,000.

Overall, the government reported that there was an increase of close to 500,000 jobs for the combined months of January and February.

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Lululemon shares dive following weak earnings report..

Lululemon Athletica Inc. saw its stock price take a tumble in Wednesday’s after hours trading, falling by more than 15% at one point as investors dumped the stock following a poor earnings report.

The sell-off continued into Thursday morning, with the company’s stock falling close to 20% in pre-market trading.

Lululemon, the athletic and leisure apparel company, reported that it had suffered a decline in sales, specifically in online sales.

The company’s CEO, commenting on a follow-up conference call, said that Lululemon had suffered from slow sales at the start of the quarter, but that the pace was picking up.

For the company’s brick-and-mortar business, it reported that same-store sales had increased by 6%. That number actually came in above analyst expectations, which had pegged the category for a 5.3% gain.

Lululemon, which faces strong competition from Under Armour in the category of workout clothes for everyday wear, reported adjusted earnings per share at $1 for Q-4.

That missed the average forecast of industry analysts by $0.01 but was apparently sufficient to disappoint investors and helped to drive down the stock price following the earnings report.

Lululemon also reported an increase in its net revenue, rising to $2.3 billion for a gain of 14% compared to Q-4 2015.

However, it appeared that it was the company's projections of weaker than expected sales in the coming year that was the main contributor to the stock's sharp sell-off.

Lululemon had gained about 2% for the year to date prior to Wednesday’s report.