Initial Jobless Claims

An additional 1.877 million Americans filed for unemployment benefits in the week ending May 30, exceeding economists’ estimates for 1.843 million initial jobless claims during the week. The prior week’s figure was revised higher to 2.13 million from the previously reported 2.12 million.

This week’s report marked the first time that weekly initial jobless claims came in below two million in 10 weeks. Over the past 11 weeks, more than 42 million Americans have filed for unemployment insurance.

After peaking in the week ending March 28, weekly jobless claims have been on a steady decline, but the pace of the decline might not be swift enough, according to economists.

After seeing a decline in the previous week’s report, continuing claims, which lags initial jobless claims data by one week, increased to 21.49 million in the week ending May 23, from 20.84 million in the previous week. Consensus expectations were for 20 million continuing claims

Source: Yahoo Finance