The number of people filing first-time unemployment claims fell 12,000 last week to 631,000, according to a new report. This is good news for U.S. economy and for boosting confidence in investors.
Here is what the Department of Labor released this morning.
In the week ending May 16, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 631,000, a decrease of 12,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 643,000. The 4-week moving average was 628,500, a decrease of 3,500 from the previous week's revised average of 632,000.
The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 5.0 percent for the week ending May 9, an increase of 0.1 percentage point from the prior week's unrevised rate of 4.9 percent.
The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending May 9 was 6,662,000, an increase of 75,000 from the preceding week's revised level of 6,587,000. The 4-week moving average was 6,480,500, an increase of 131,000 from the preceding week's revised average of 6,349,500.
The fiscal year-to-date average for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment for all programs is 5.071 million.
However, these unemployment numbers are still high, some say highest in the record. But this is obviously a good news. The level of initial claims (631 thousand) is still very high, indicating significant weakness in the job market.
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