In the latest week, the number of US individuals filing new claims for unemployment insurance fell below expectations, while the number of those continuing to receive unemployment insurance fell but were above expectations, the Labor Department said today.
The number of first-time claims filed in the week ending May 3rd fell 18,000 to 365,000.
The four-week moving average for initial claims increased 2,500 to 367,000. Economists prefer the four-week moving average because it smoothes out fluctuations in weekly data.
For the week ending April 26th, the number of individuals continuing to receive unemployment insurance fell by 10,000 to 3.020 million, above the 3 million claims economists were expecting.
The four-week moving average for continuing unemployment claims increased 16,750 to 2.999 million, the highest level since May 2004.