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Initial claims for state unemployment benefits
declined 34,000 to a seasonally adjusted 262,000 for the week
ended April 25, the lowest reading since April 2000, the Labor
Department said on Thursday.
Claims for the prior week were revised to show 1,000 more claims
received than previously reported. It was the eighth straight
month that claims remained below 300,000, which is usually
associated with a strengthening labor market.
Economists polled by Reuters had forecast claims falling to
290,000 last week.
A Labor Department analyst said the government had estimated
claims for Louisiana because of a power outage in the state.
This, however, had little impact on the claims data as the
estimate was close to the figure that Louisiana later provided.
The four-week moving average of claims, considered a better
measure of labor market trends as it irons out week-to-week
volatility, fell 1,250 last week to 283,750.
The number of people still receiving benefits after an initial
week of aid dropped 74,000 to 2.25 million in the week ended
April 18.
The so-called continuing claims covered the period during which
the government surveyed households for April's unemployment
rate. Continuing claims declined 160,000 between the March and
April survey periods, suggesting an improvement in the jobless
rate from 5.5 percent in March.
(Reporting by Lucia Mutikani; Editing by Paul Simao)
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