In New York state, 18,627 people filed for new unemployment-insurance benefits in the week ended May 4, the lowest weekly level the state has posted so far this year, according to U.S. Labor Department data issued this morning.
Initial unemployment claims were down slightly from 18,798 filed the week of April 27, New York’s previous low year to date. And the state’s claims are down by nearly a third from the weekly average of 27,205 jobless claims it reported during the first four months of 2013. The state data is not seasonally adjusted.
The U.S. Labor Department today also reported that nationwide the number of people applying for new unemployment benefits jumped by 32,000 to 360,000 for the week ended May 11, compared to the revised figure for the week before. It’s the highest number of initial claims nationally in six weeks. Economists had been expecting a figure of about 330,000 claims.
The four-week moving average for initial claims, rose by 1,250 to 339,250 in the latest week, but was still close to a five-year low. The U.S. data is seasonally adjusted.
The Labor Department will release state data for the week ended May 11 next week.
Contact Rombel at arombel@cnybj.com