U.S. initial jobless claims continue to fall in May, data supportive of employment growth

The U.S. initial jobless claims continued to drop in May. For the week ended 13 May, initial jobless claims fell to 232,000 from 236,000. This is in contrast to consensus expectations of an increase to 240,000. The four-week moving average dropped to 241k.

The week ended 13 May is the survey week for the May employment report and the report released shows a rebound over the April survey week, when claims were at 244k. For the week ended 6 May, continuing claims dropped below the 1.9 million mark to 1898k from an upwardly revised 1920k.

Bigger than nominal drop in claims in California and Missouri mainly drove the decline in overall initial claims. Meanwhile, other states mostly registered modest falls. Overall, the initial and continuing claims data give a picture of rebounding U.S. labor market conditions. Today’s data is supportive of employment growth, noted Barclays in a research report.