The number of seasonally adjusted initial jobless claims in the United States saw a weekly decline of 10,000 to 222,000 in the seven days ending May 11, the Department of Labor revealed in its report published on Thursday.
The 4-week moving average grew by 2,500 to hit 217,750. The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate stood at 1.2% for the week ending April 27, matching the previous week’s unrevised rate.
The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the same seven-day period went up by 13,000 to 1,794,000. Meanwhile, the 4-week moving average declined by 750 to 1,779,250.
The decline reversed a portion of the jump in the prior week, which had pushed claims to the highest level in more than eight months. The increase was largely attributed to a surge in applications in New York related to school spring breaks.
Though the labor market remains healthy, it is steadily rebalancing in the wake of 525 basis points worth of interest rate hikes from the Federal Reserve since March 2022 to cool demand in the overall economy.
Easing labor market conditions and the resumption in inflation’s downward trend have raised the odds of a rate cut in September. The U.S. central bank last month left its benchmark overnight interest rate unchanged in the current 5.25%-5.50% range, where it has been since July.