Initial claims for U.S. state unemployment benefits rose exactly as expected in the May 16 employment survey week, up 10,000 to 274,000 from an unrevised 264,000 level in the previous week, the Labor Department reported Thursday.
The level of claims in the current week is 22,000 below the 296,000 level in April 18 employment survey week, a positive sign for May payrolls.
The Labor Department said there were no special factors in the current week's report.
The initial claims seasonally adjusted 4-week moving average fell by 5,500 to 266,250 in the May 16 week, the lowest level since the April 15, 2000 week, when it was also 266,250. The 15-year low suggests real underlying improvement, as spring volatility begins to dissipate. However, barring a large reversal in the headline initial claims level to below 262,000, the four-week moving average is likely to post a small rebound in next week's data.
The Labor Department said that seasonal adjustment factors had expected a 3.6% decrease in unadjusted claims, or 8,722, in the May 16 week. Instead, unadjusted claims fell by only 88, a decline of less than 0.1%, to 242,794. That level is well below the 287,398 level reported in the comparable week a year ago.
The level of continuing claims fell 12,000 to 2.211 million in the May 9 week, the lowest level since the November 11, 2000 week, when it was 2.161 million. The unadjusted level fell to 2,078,408, well below the 2,494,495 level in the comparable week a year ago.
The seasonally adjusted insured unemployment fell to 1.6% in the May 9 week from 1.7% in the May 2 week. The rate was 2.0% in the comparable week a year earlier.
The unemployment rate among the insured labor force is well below that reported monthly by the Labor Department because claims are approved for the most part only for job losers, not the job leavers and labor force reentrants included in the monthly report.
