According to a report by the US Department of Labor, the number of Americans who applied for unemployment benefits for the first time increased by 21 thousand last week – up to 218 thousand people. This was the highest level since the end of January. The indicator of the previous week was revised downwards: the number of requests amounted to 197 thousand, not 203 thousand, as previously reported. Analysts on average expected a reduction in the number of applications to 200 thousand from the previously announced level. The average number of applications for benefits over the past 4 weeks has increased to 199.5 thousand from a revised 191.25 thousand. The number of Americans continuing to receive unemployment benefits for the week ending May 7 fell to 1.317 million from a revised 1.342 million in the previous week. This was the lowest figure since the end of December 1969. Analysts predicted a decrease of 23 thousand to 1,320 million.
