Initial Jobless Claims Fall

Washington, DC, June 5, 2008--Initial jobless claims showed an unexpected improvement last week although the government report showed that unemployed workers are having a tough time finding jobs.

The Labor Department said that new applications for unemployment benefits totaled a seasonally adjusted 357,000 in the week ended May 31, a decline of 18,000 from the previous week. That was the lowest level since mid-April.

The four-week average of new jobless claims, which is considered a more accurate measure of employment trends since it evens out weekly volatility, dipped to 368,500 from an upwardly revised 371,250 in the previous week.

The number of people receiving benefits fell 16,000 to a seasonally adjusted 3.093 million in the week ended May 24, the latest period for which figures were available.

Despite the decline, the number of so-called continued claims remained above 3 million for the sixth week.