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Initial claims for state unemployment benefits rose 7,000 to a
seasonally adjusted 282,000 for the week ended May 23, the Labor
Department said on Thursday.
Claims for the prior week were revised to show 1,000 more
applications received than previously reported.
Despite last week's increase, claims stayed below 300,000, a
threshold associated with a firming jobs market, for 12 straight
weeks, an unusually long stretch given a weak economic backdrop.
Outside the energy sector, which has suffered thousands of job
losses because of a sharp decline in crude oil prices, layoffs
remain subdued even as economic growth is struggling to rebound
strongly after slumping at the start of the year.
Economists polled by Reuters had forecast claims slipping to
270,000 last week. A Labor Department analyst said there was
nothing unusual in the state-level data.
The four-week moving average of claims, considered a better
measure of labor market trends as it irons out week-to-week
volatility, increased 5,000 last week to 271,500.
Thursday's claims report showed the number of people still
receiving benefits after an initial week of aid rose 11,000 to
2.22 million in the week ended May 16. The so-called continuing
claims covered the period during which the government surveyed
households for May's unemployment rate.
The four-week moving average of continuing claims declined
70,250 between the April and May survey periods, suggesting a
dip in the jobless rate from a near seven-year low of 5.4
percent last month.
(Reporting By Lucia Mutikani; Editing by Andrea Ricci)
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