(Sharecast News) - Americans lined up for unemployment benefits at an accelerated pace in the week ended 19 April, according to the Department of Labor.
Initial jobless claims rose by 6,000 to 222,000 last week, in line with market expectations, while continuing claims unexpectedly fell by 37,000 to a two-month low of 1.84m.
The four-week moving average, which aims to strip out week-to-week volatility, decreased by 750 to 220,250.
Elsewhere, the advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 1.2% for the week ending 12 April, unchanged from the previous week's unrevised rate.
Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com
