Weekly Initial Jobless Claims in the US decreased by 44,000.
There were 444,000 initial claims for unemployment benefits in the US during the week ending May 15, the data published by the US Department of Labor (DOL) revealed on Thursday. This reading came in better than the market expectation of 450,000 and followed the previous print of 478,000 (revised from 473,000). “The 4-week moving average was 504,750, a decrease of 30,500 from the previous week’s revised average. This is the lowest level for this average since March 14, 2020, when it was 225,500.” “The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 2.7% for the week ending May 8, an increase of 0.1 percentage point from the previous week’s unrevised rate.” Stock indexes in the United States began Thursday’s trading session higher after the Labor Department reported that initial jobless claims fell more than expected. In business news, Swedish oat-milk maker Oatly Group AB is set to debut on the Nasdaq later today. The Dow Jones Industrial 80 points higher with Microsoft Corp. growing 1.15%. The Nasdaq 100 was 200 points higher. Copart Inc. jumped 5.19%. The S&P 500 gained 30 points. Enphase Energy was the best performer, increasing 5.41%.