Initial jobless claims tick up

pulse

May 25, 2017 1:25 PM

The latest read on initial jobless claims.

Claims, which count the number of people who applied for unemployment insurance for the first time, rose by 1,000 to 234,000 from last week's upwardly revised 233,000.

Economists had forecast that claims rose to 238,000.

The four-week moving average was 235,250, a drop of 5,750 from the previous week's revised average. This is the lowest level for the average since April 14, 1973 when it was 232,750.

Initial jobless claims are used as a real-time proxy for the pace of layoffs since people usually file for benefits soon after they lose their jobs.

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