- First-time claims declined to 215,000 in week ended May 18
- Benefit applications have remained subdued in recent months
Initial applications for US unemployment benefits fell last week, remaining subdued as both demand for workers and layoffs ease.
First-time claims decreased by 8,000 to 215,000 in the week ended May 18 after a similar drop in the prior period, marking the biggest back-to-back decline since September, according to Labor Department data released Thursday. The median forecast in a Bloomberg survey of economists called for 220,000.
Continuing claims, a proxy for the number of people receiving unemployment benefits, were little changed at 1.79 million in the week ended May 11.