After reporting a notable pullback in first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits in the previous week, the Labor Department released a report on Thursday showing a slight rebound in initial jobless claims in the week ended May 2nd.
The report said initial jobless claims edged up to 265,000, an increase of 3,000 from the previous week’s unrevised level of 262,000. Economists had expected jobless claims to climb to 280,000.
While jobless claims showed a modest increase, they remained close to the fifteen-year low set in the previous week.
The Labor Department also said the less volatile four-week moving average dropped to 279,500, a decrease of 4,250 from the previous week’s unrevised average of 283,750.
With the decrease, the four-week moving average fell to its lowest level since hitting 279,250 in the week ended May 6, 2000.
Continuing claims, a reading on the number of people receiving ongoing unemployment assistance, also fell by 28,000 to 2.228 million in the week ended April 25th.
The drop pulled continuing claims down to their lowest level since they reached 2.161 million in November of 2000.
The four-week moving average of continuing claims also slid to a fourteen-year low of 2,271,500 from the preceding week’s revised average of 2,291,500.
Friday morning, the Labor Department is scheduled to release its more closely watched monthly jobs report for April.
Economists currently expect the report to show an increase of about 220,000 jobs in April, pushing the unemployment rate down to 5.4 percent.
Payroll processor ADP released a report on Wednesday showing that private sector employment increased by much less than expected in the month of April.
ADP said employment in the private sector rose by 169,000 jobs in April compared to economist estimates for an increase of about 200,000 jobs.
The weaker than expected data may point to some downside risk for the Labor Department’s monthly jobs report, which includes both private and public sector jobs.
However, Paul Ashworth, Chief U.S. Economist at Capital Economics, said most other labor market indicators suggest Friday’s report will show much healthier job growth.
The material has been provided by InstaForex Company – www.instaforex.com