In the week ending May 20, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 229,000, an increase of 4,000 from the previous week's revised level. The previous week's level was revised down by 17,000 from 242,000 to 225,000. The 4-week moving average was 231,750, unchanged from the previous week's revised average. The previous week's average was revised down by 12,500 from 244,250 to 231,750. The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 1.2 percent for the week ending May 13, unchanged from the previous week's unrevised rate. The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment ... (full story)

U.S. applications for jobless claims rose slightly last week but remain at healthy levels with companies reticent to let go of employees in a tight labor market. The number of Americans filing for jobless claims for the week ending May 20 rose by 4,000 to 229,000 from 225,000 the week before, the Labor Department reported Thursday. The previous week’s number was revised down by a significant 17,000. The weekly claims numbers are broadly as representative of the number of U.S. layoffs. The four-week moving average of claims, which evens out some of the week-to-week gyrations, was unchanged at 231,750 after the ... (full story)