Initial claims for unemployment insurance in the U.S. rose to a seasonally adjusted 350,000 for the week ending May 28, an increase of 25,000 claims from the previous week's revised figure of 325,000, the U.S Labor Department reported on June 2.
The department's four-week moving average of initial jobless claims also rose last week, but not by nearly as much as they week-over-week number. For the week ending last Saturday, the four-week moving average was 334,500 claims, an increase of 3,500 from the previous week's revised average of 331,000.
Economists tend to regard the four-week moving average as a better indicator of underlying labor market conditions because it smooths out sometimes volatile week-to-week swings.
