US Weekly Jobless Claims Decline in the Week Ending May 18th

On Thursday, the US Department of Labor reported that the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial unemployment claims was 215,000 during the week ending Saturday, May 18th. This is a decrease of 8,000 from the previous week’s revised level of 223,000 (originally 222,000). The 4-week moving average was 219,750—an increase of 1,750 from the previous week’s revised average of 218,000 (originally 217,750).

The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment, known as continuing claims, during the week ending May 11th was 1,794,000, an increase of 8,000 from the previous week’s revised total of 1,786,000 (originally 1,794,000). The 4-week moving average was 1,782,250—an increase of 5,000 from the previous week’s revised average of 1,777,2500 (originally 1,779,250).

The advanced seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 1.2% for the week ending May 11th, unchanged from the previous week’s unrevised rate.