Jobless Claims Prediction Hits the Mark

Earlier this week, following a Google Insights for Search snafu, Markets with Search predicted that jobless claims would come in flat for the week (in line with consensus). The numbers released today validated the claim. Chalk one up to another win for using search to "predict the present."

Looking further into the issue which resulted in the errant prediction earlier, it is to my understanding that Insights for Search data may take up to 2 days to finalize following the end of a periodic week. The initial prediction was made on data that has not been fully normalized. While this is not ideal, it still enables you to be ahead of data that is delayed by 5 days.