New claims for unemployment in the U.S held relatively level for the week, according to figures released Thursday by the Labor Department.
Department figures put the level of new unemployment claims at a seasonally adjusted level of 370,000 for the week ending May 12.
The new figures, while essentially unchanged from the previous week's revised level of 370,000. Additionally the Department reported that the previous figure was revised only slightly from the 367,000 initially reported.
Nevertheless, most economists had expected a slight drop in new claims to a seasonally adjusted level of 365,000.
The four-week rolling average of new unemployment claims, a figure that eases some of the week-to-week volatility in the reports, showed a decrease of 4,750 new claims to 375,000 - down from the previous average of 379,750.
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