June 9 (UPI) -- A seasonally adjusted 229,000 people filed for unemployment insurance for the first time last week, the most to do so since January and the third-highest total this year, the Labor Department reported Thursday.
As one of the carefully watched economic gauges, the four-week moving average of those applying for unemployment for the week ending May 28 dropped to its lowest level since 1970, the Labor Department said in its weekly report.
The number of those filing initial jobless claims for the week ending June 4 was 27,000 more than the previous week's adjusted number of 202,000. The four-week moving average of first-time unemployment filings reached 215,000 last week, up 8,000 from the previous week.
The first-time unemployment filings topped the 200,000 mark for the fourth consecutive week after 11 of the past 12 weeks had under 200,000. First-time claims fell as low as 166,000 during the week ending March 19.
The total number of those filing for unemployment for the week ending May 28 was a seasonally adjusted 1.306 million, the same as the revised total from the week ago.
The four-week moving average of total unemployment insurance filings fell 9,000 to 1,317,500, its lowest number since Jan. 10, 1970. The previous week's total was a revised 1,326,500.
