US Weekly Jobless Claims Decline in the Week Ending May 11th

On Thursday, the US Department of Labor reported that the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial unemployment claims was 222,000 during the week ending Saturday, May 11th. This is a decrease of 10,000 from the previous week’s revised level of 232,000 (originally 231,000). The 4-week moving average was 215,000—an increase of 2,500 from the previous week’s revised average of 215,250 (originally 215,000).

The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment, known as continuing claims, during the week ending May 4th was 1,794,000. This is an increase of 13,000 from the previous week’s revised total of 1,781,000 (originally 1,785,000). The 4-week moving average was 1,779,250—a decrease of 750 from the previous week’s revised average of 1,780,000 (originally1,781,000).

The advanced seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 1.2% for the week ending May 4, unchanged from the previous week’s unrevised rate.