U.S. weekly jobless claims dip slightly to 370,000

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/us-weekly-jobless-claims-dip-slightly-to-370000-2012-05-24?link=MW_home_latest_news

The number of Americans who filed requests for jobless benefits fell by 2,000 last week to 370,000, the U.S. Labor Department said Thursday. Claims from two weeks ago were revised up to 372,000 from 370,000. Economists surveyed by MarketWatch had projected claims would rise to a seasonally adjusted 373,000 in the week ended May 19. The average of new claims over the past four weeks, meanwhile, dropped by 5,500 to 370,000, the lowest level in six weeks. Continuing claims decreased by 29,000 to a seasonally adjusted 3.26 million in the week ended May 12, the Labor Department said. Continuing claims are reported with a one-week lag. About 6.17 million people received some kind of state or federal benefit in the week ended May 5, down 105,004 from the prior week. Total claims are reported with a two-week lag.