Bloomberg (05/24/12) Alex Kowalski
The number of Americans who filed requests for jobless benefits fell by 2,000 last week to 370,000, the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. The initial claims matched the median estimate in a Bloomberg News survey of economists. Claims from two weeks ago were revised up to 372,000 from 370,000. The average of new claims over the past four weeks, meanwhile, dropped by 5,500 to 370,000, the lowest level in six weeks. Continuing claims decreased by 29,000 to a seasonally adjusted 3.26 million in the week ended May 12.