WASHINGTON (AP) — Fewer Americans filed for jobless aid last week as layoffs remain low despite a number of uncertainties that continue to cloud the economy.
U.S. applications for unemployment benefits for the week ending May 16 fell by 3,000 to 209,000, the Labor Department reported Thursday. That's fewer than the 213,000 new applications analysts surveyed by the data firm FactSet had forecast.
Weekly filings for unemployment benefits are considered a proxy for U.S. layoffs and are close to a real-time indicator of the health of the job market.
The four-week moving average of jobless claims, which softens some of the weekly volatility, inched down by 1,500 to 202,500.
The total number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits for the previous week ending May 9 grew by 6,000 to 1.78 million.
