U.S. Jobless Claims Down 8K to 210K in May 21 Week
May 26 2022 - 9:16AM
Dow Jones News
By Sarah Chaney Cambon
New applications for unemployment benefits fell last week and
hovered near historic lows in a sign of a tight U.S. labor
market.
Initial jobless claims, a proxy for layoffs, decreased to
210,000 last week from the previous week's level of 218,000, the
Labor Department said Thursday.
Claims remain near 2019 pre-pandemic levels, when the job market
also was historically tight. The four-week average for claims,
which smooths out volatility in the weekly figures, rose to 206,750
last week.
Thursday's report showed continuing claims, a proxy for the
total number of people receiving payments from state unemployment
programs, increased slightly to 1.35 million for the week ended May
14 from 1.32 million a week earlier. They remain near the lowest
level since 1969. Continuing claims are reported with a one-week
lag.
Write to Sarah Chaney Cambon at sarah.chaney@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
May 26, 2022 09:01 ET (13:01 GMT)
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