U.S. Weekly Initial Jobless Claims Fall By 18,000 To A Six-Week Low

June 5, 2008 9:59 a.m. EST

Washington, D.C. (AHN) - The number of individuals filing initial jobless claims for insurance decreased unexpectedly to a six-week low, beating estimates by the economists.

The decline in the first-time jobless claims shows some signs of improvements in the U.S. economy, which has already suffered by the subprime crisis, weak consumer confidence and rising gas prices.

U.S. weekly initial jobless claims for insurance declined by 18,000 to 357,000 on a seasonally adjusted basis in the week ending May 31, according to the Labor Department on Thursday.

While, the four-week average, which is a less volatile measure, of initial jobless claims dropped by 2,750 to 368,500 in the last week of May from 371,250.

The four-week average was between 300,000 and 325,000 for much of 2007, while it was below 350,000 for most of the first quarter this year.

The number of continuing jobless claims declined by 16,000 to 3.09 million in the week ending May 24, from 3.109 million the prior week.

The four-week average of continuing claims rose by 15,250 to 3.08 million.

The market analysts surveyed by Bloomberg had projected claims to rise to 375,000, from a previously reported 372,000 a week earlier, according to the median of 39 projections with estimating ranging from 365,000 to 380,000.

The Labor Department report Thursday showed the unemployment rate for workers with unemployment insurance, which tends to track the U.S. jobless rate, was unchanged at 2.3 percent.

The report also said there were 22 states and territories registering an increase in initial jobless claims for the May 31 week, while 31 reported a decrease in the jobless claims.

According to the report, Ohio registered the largest rise in initial jobless claims for the week of May 24 by 2,390. While, Michigan reported the sharpest decrease by 1,880 due to the job cuts in auto industry.

The U.S. economy has lost jobs every month since the begining of this year and it shed as much as 20,000 in the month of April.