The number of people filing for unemployment insurance for the first time rose for a second consecutive week, the Labor Department said today.
At the same time, the average number of initial claims over the past four weeks fell to a level not seen since the month of the last presidential election.
First-time claims in the week ended May 15th rose by 12,000 to 345,000, while the average number of initial claims over the past four weeks fell by 2,750 to 333,500, the department said. That is the lowest four-week average since the week ended November 18th, 2000.
A consensus forecast of Wall Street economists had expected claims to fall by 3,000, to 328,000, in the latest week.
Economists say the four-week average provides a better gauge of the job-loss side of the labor market than the more volatile weekly number, which is subject to large revisions and can be skewed by one-time factors such as weather or holidays.
The total number of unemployed workers receiving state benefits fell by 23,000 to 2.94 million in the week ended May 8th. The four-week average of continuing claims fell by 15,500 to 2.96 million. That's the lowest four-week average of total claims since June 2001.
The nation's insured unemployment rate fell to 2.3 per cent from 2.4 per cent in the previous week.
AFP