Washington, DC, May 11, 2006--First-time claims for state unemployment benefits filed last week were off 1,000 to 324,000.
Claims in the previous week were revised to an increase of 9,000 to 325,000, compared with the initial estimate of a rise of 5,000 to 322,000.
The consensus forecast of Wall Street economists was for claims to fall by 6,000 to 316,000.
Excluding Puerto Rico, initial claims would roughly be nearer the low 300,000 level, a Labor Department official said.
The four-week average of seasonally adjusted new claims rose by 2,500 to 317,250. This is the highest level since the week ended Dec. 10. The four-week average smoothes out weekly fluctuations in the data caused by one-time events such as the budget crisis that's gripped Puerto Rico.
