The data from
the Labour Department revealed on
Thursday the number of applications for unemployment decreased less than anticipated last week.
According to
the report, the initial claims for unemployment benefits declined by 10,000 to 222,000
for the week ended May 11. This was the first drop in first-time unemployment
claims in three weeks.
Economists had predicted
220,000 new claims last week.
Claims for the prior week were revised upwardly to 232,000 from
the original estimate of 231,000.
Meanwhile, the
four-week moving average of jobless claims increased to 217,750 compared
to an upwardly revised 215,250 (from 215,000)
in the previous week. This represented the highest count since the week ended November 18,
2023 (218,250).
As for
continuing claims, they rose to 1,794,000 compared to a downwardly revised 1,781,000
(from 1,785,000) in the previous week. This marked the highest reading in four weeks. Economists had forecast continuing jobless claims of 1,780,000.