The data from
the Labour Department showed on
Thursday the number of applications for unemployment came in below expectations last week.
According to
the report, the initial claims for unemployment benefits held steady at 208,000 for the
week ended April 27.
Economists had foreseen
212,000 new claims last week.
Claims for the prior week were revised upwardly to 208,000 from
the original estimate of 207,000.
Meanwhile, the
four-week moving average of jobless claims fell to 210,000 compared to an upwardly revised 213,500 (from 213,250) in the
previous week. This marked the lowest count in seven weeks.
As for continuing claims, they came in at 1,774,000,
unchanged compared to a downwardly revised 1,774,000 (from 1,781,000) in the previous
week.