US Weekly Initial Jobless Claims Decline in the Week Ending May 16

On Thursday, the US Department of Labor reported that the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial unemployment claims was 209,000 for the week ending Saturday, May 16, a decrease of 3,000 from the previous week’s revised level of 212,000 (originally 211,000). The four-week moving average was 202,500—a decrease of 1,500 from the prior week’s revised average of 204,000 (originally 203,750).

The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending May 9 was 1,782,000, an increase of 6,000 from the previous week’s revised level of 1,776,000 (originally 1,782,000). The four-week moving average was 1,773,000—a decrease of 6,500 from the prior week’s revised average of 1,779,500 (originally 1,780,000).

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 1.2% for the week ending May 9, unchanged from the previous week’s unrevised rate.