The number of Americans filing for unemployment insurance fell by 2,000 to 370,000 filings for the week ending May 19, the government said Thursday.
That is down from the 372,000 filings a week earlier, which is based on revised estimates. Meanwhile, the four-week moving average hit 370,000.
The total number of people claiming benefits in all of the programs for the week ending May 5 hit 6.128 million, down by 105,004 filings from the previous week.
The states with the highest insured unemployment rates on May 5 included Alaska (4,9%); California (3.6%); Puerto Rico (3.6%); Pennsylvania (3.5%); New Jersey (3.4%); Oregon (3.4%); Connecticut (3.2%); Illinois (3.1%); Nevada (3.1%); Rhode Island (3%); and Wisconsin (3%).
The largest increases in claims for the week ending May 12 occurred in North Carolina, Mississippi, Tennessee, Alabama and Florida. Meanwhile, the largest decreases occurred in California, New York, Missouri, Texas and Illinois.
Analysts with Econoday surveying the report said, "Jobless claims are trending back at March levels, well down from April and pointing to moderate improvement for this month's monthly employment report."
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