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Initial claims for state unemployment benefits increased 9,000
to a seasonally adjusted 257,000 for the week ended April 23,
the Labor Department said on Thursday.
Claims for the prior week were revised to show 1,000 more
applications than previously reported.
Economists polled by Reuters had forecast claims rising to
260,000 in the latest week. Jobless claims have now been below
300,000, a threshold associated with healthy labor market
conditions, for 60 weeks, the longest stretch since 1973.
A Labor Department analyst said there were no special factors
influencing last week's claims data and no states had
been estimated.
The four-week moving average of claims, considered a better
measure of labor market trends as it irons out week-to-week
volatility, fell 4,750 to 256,000 last week, the lowest since
December 1973.
The number of people still receiving benefits after an initial
week of aid decreased 5,000 to 2.13 million in the week ended
April 16, the lowest since November 2000.
The four-week average of the so-called continuing claims
declined 10,500 to 2.16 million, the lowest reading since
November 2000. The continuing claims data covered the survey
week for April's unemployment rate.
The four-week average of continuing claims fell 47,750 between
the March and April survey periods, suggesting an improvement in
the unemployment rate. The jobless rate was at 5.0 percent in
March.
(Reporting By Lucia Mutikani; Editing by Andrea Ricci)
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