(MENAFN- AFP) An increase in layoffs pushed US claims for unemployment insurance higher last week but the jobs market remains tight, Labor Department data showed Thursday.
Initial jobless claims, a sign of the level of layoffs, rose by 17,000 in the week to April 30 to 274,000.
Despite the rise, claims held below 300,000 for the 61st consecutive week, the longest such streak since 1973. The four-week moving average of claims was just 258,000.
While the Labor Department report does not tabulate layoffs, the consultancy Challenger, Gray and Christmas reported Wednesday that job cuts by US employers jumped 35 percent last month to more than 65,000, taking the total layoffs since the beginning of the year to over 250,000, the highest level for that period since 2009.
"We continue to see large-scale layoffs in the energy sector, where low oil prices are driving down profits," said chief executive John Challenger.
"However, we are also seeing heavy downsizing activity in other areas, such as computers and retail, where changing consumer trends are creating a lot of volatility."
On Friday the Labor Department releases its report on the US employment market in April, with analysts predicting a slight slowdown to 207,000 net new jobs created, after 215,000 in March. The unemployment rate is expected to hold at 5.0 percent.
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