churchbingonearme| Seasonal factors dissipate, US initial claims for unemployment benefits fall back

The United States applied for unemployment benefits for the first time last weekchurchbingonearmeThe number of people dropped as seasonal factors that led to the surge in initial requests in New York the previous week disappeared.

Data released Thursday by the Labor Department showed that initial claims for unemployment benefits fell by 10,000 to 22.churchbingonearme.20,000. The median expectation in a Bloomberg survey was 220,000.

New York State, which experienced a surge in applications during spring break in New York City's public schools, fell back. Employees such as bus drivers can apply for this benefit during school holidays, often causing single-week data to fluctuate during and after the holidays.

The number of continuing claimants for the week ended May 4 rose to 1.79 million.