Washington, DC, April 20, 2006--Initial applications for unemployment benefits fell by 10,000 to stand at 303,000 in the week ended April 15, the Labor Department said Thursday.
The four-week average of new claims, which smoothes out the impact of one-time events such as storms or holidays, fell by 2,250 to 305,250.
The number of people collecting unemployment benefits rose by 18,000 to 2.44 million in the week ended April 8.
The decline in last week's claims was larger than anticipated. Economists had expected a slight decrease in initial claims to about 310,000.
A Labor Department official said many state unemployment offices were closed for a few days last week for spring break.
The four-week average of continuing claims fell 6,000 to 2.44 million for the week, the lowest level since February 2001. The number of continuing claims peaked at 3.75 million in May 2003.
The insured unemployment rate remained at 1.9% in the latest week.
