The data from the Labor Department announced on Thursday the number of applications
for unemployment fell less than expected last week.
According to the report, the initial claims for unemployment benefits declined
by 18,000 to 228,000 for the week ended April 1. That marked the
lowest weekly total in five weeks. Economists had predicted 200,000 new claims last week.
Claims for
the prior week were revised upwardly to 246,000 from the initial estimate of 198,000.
Meanwhile, the four-week moving average of jobless claims decreased to 237,750
from an upwardly revised 242,000 (from 198,250) in the previous week.
As for continuing claims, they increased to 1,823,000 from an upwardly
revised 1,817,000 (from 1,699,000) in the previous week. That represented
the highest reading since the week ended December 11, 2021 (1,904,000).