WASHINGTON, June 6 (Xinhua) -- The number of initial jobless claims in the United States remained unchanged last week, according to a report released by the U.S. Labor Department on Thursday.
In the week ending June 1, the number of people filing for U.S. unemployment benefits remained flat at 218,000. Meanwhile, the previous week's level was revised up by 3,000 from 215,000.
The report also showed that four-week moving average of initial claims, a method to iron out data volatility, dropped by 2,500 to 215,000. Meanwhile, the previous week's number was revised up by 750 to 217,500.
As an important leading indicator to reflect unemployment status in the United States, a lower reading in jobless claims indicates lower overall layoffs. The reading of jobless claims remained below the 300,000 threshold, signaling a tight labor market in the United States.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported early this month that the unemployment rate dropped to 3.6 percent in April, which was the lowest level since December 1969. The bureau is about to release the unemployment rate for May on Friday, June 7.