First-time claims for unemployment held near the lowest level in 15 years for the week ending May 2, the Department of Labor reported Thursday.
There were 265,000 initial claims for unemployment insurance benefits in the week, adjusted for seasonal variation, just 3,000 more than the week before, which was the lowest level since April of 2000.
The four-week moving average for claims fell to 279,500, the lowest such average since May 6, 2000.
Low unemployment claims are viewed as a positive sign for the jobs outlook. Investors expect the jobs report due from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Friday morning to show that net payroll growth rebounded to over 200,000 in the month, after a disappointing 126,000 total in the first estimate for March.
Over the past year, unemployment claims have dropped along with the unemployment rate, despite a uptick in the winter.
Between April of last year and this year, the total number of people receiving unemployment benefits, including those getting them for up to 26 weeks, fell from 2.8 million to 2.3 million. The unemployment rate has fallen from 6.2 percent last April to 5.5 percent in March, and is expect to dip by another tenth of a percentage point in April.
