American Jobless Claims Fall To Pandemic-Low For Fifth Straight Week

Unemployment insurance claims hit a pandemic-low for the fifth straight week for the seven days ending in May 8, the Labor Department reported.

• Seasonally adjusted initial claims fell 34,000 to 473,000 in the week ending May 8 to mark the lowest since March 14, 2020’s 256,000.
• The previous week’s jobless claims was revised 9,000 higher to 507,000 from 498,000 earlier reported.
• The four-week average fell 28,250 to 534,000, the lowest since March 14, 2020 when it was 225,500.
• The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 2.6% for the week ending May 1 bringing the total insured unemployment to 3.655 million.
• Biggest jumps in unemployment claims for the week ending May 1 were in Kentucky, New Jersey, Delaware, Vermont, and Puerto Rico.
• The largest declines for the same week were seen in Virginia, New York, Florida, California, and Oklahoma.