US initial jobless claims unchanged from previous week, as expected

ISTANBUL

The number of Americans filing first-time unemployment claims remained stable at 229,000 last week, according to Labor Department data released on Thursday.

The figure matched the market forecast of 229,000, while the previous week's level was revised upwards by 1,000 to 229,000.

The four-week moving average was 230,500 – a rise of 3,250 from the previous week's upwardly revised level of 227,250.

In April, the US economy added 177,000 jobs, much higher than forecasts of 138,000.

The unemployment rate was expectedly to be at 4.2% in April, unchanged from March.