New unemployment claims hit 4-month low

WASHINGTON – In the week ended May 12, seasonally adjusted first-time jobless claims nationwide dropped to a four-month low of 293,000, a decline of 5,000 claims or 1.68 percent from the previous week, according to a report today from the U.S. Labor Department. Compared with the same week in 2006, initial claims decreased 12.28 percent.
The less-volative four-week moving average fell last week to a seasonally adjusted 305,500 claims, its lowest level in a year, a decline of 12,000 claims or 3.78 percent from the previous week’s moving average of 317,500. Compared with the moving average in the same week of 2006, the moving average decreased 6.57 percent.
The decrease was a surprise, according to Bloomberg News, whose survey of 43 economists had predicted new claims would rise 6.1 percent to 315,000 claims in the week ended May 12.
“If things were breaking down, we wouldn’t see claims this low,” Michael Feroli, an economist at JPMorgan Chase Corp. in New York, told Bloomberg after the report. “It looks like the weakness is concentrated in a few sectors. The rest of the economy, outside of housing, is doing all right.”
In the week ending May 5 – the most recent for which estimates are available – the unemployment rate among people eligible for benefits was an estimated1.9 percent, the same as the previous week and year-ago rates, the Labor Department said.
Additional information, including the Unemployment Insurance Weekly Claims Report, is available at www.dol.gov.

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