WASHINGTON - Initial claims for U.S. state unemployment benefits rose by 17,000 to a level of 274,000 in the April 30 week, more than expected, data released by the Labor Department Thursday showed.
Expectations for this week's data were for an adjusted claims level of 260,000, which would have been up 3,000 from the previous week's originally reported 257,000 level. That week's level was unrevised.
The Labor Department said there were no special factors in this week's claims data. Claims from Washington D.C. were estimated.
Seasonal adjustment factors had expected a decrease of 6.9%, or 16,970, in unadjusted claims for the current week. Actual unadjusted claims fell by 1,675 to 243,365 in the week, a 0.7% decrease. The current week's level was higher than the 236,421 level in the comparable week a year ago.
The seasonally adjusted four-week moving average increased by 2,000 to 258,000 in the April 30 week, as the April 2 week's 266,000 level rolled out of the calculation.
The level of continuing claims fell by 8,000 to 2.121 million in the April 23 week, the lowest level since 2.110 million in the November 4, 2000 week. Before seasonal adjustment, continuing claims fell by 63,353 to 2.091 million. This is below the 2.200 million unadjusted level in the comparable week a year ago.
The seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate fell to a record-low 1.5% in the April 23 week from 1.6% in the previous week. The rate was down from 1.7% 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.
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