May 29 (UPI) -- The Department of Labor reported Thursday that seasonally adjusted initial unemployment claims were up 14,000 for the week ending May 24.
"In the week ending May 24, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 240,000, an increase of 14,000 from the previous week's revised level," the Labor Department said in a statement. "The previous week's level was revised down by 1,000 from 227,000 to 226,000."
The biggest increases in jobless claims were in Illinois, Missouri, Louisiana, Connecticut and New York.
The largest decreases in claims were in Virginia, Michigan, California, Florida and Massachusetts.
For the same week a year ago, there were 221,000 initial unemployment claims.
"The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 212,506 in the week ending May 24, an increase of 10,742 (or 5.3 percent) from the previous week," the Labor Department said.
Illinois had an increase in jobless claims of 1,162 for the week ending May 24. Layoffs in manufacturing, construction, wholesale trade and retail trade services drove the increase.
Virginia saw weekly jobless claims drop by 1,277, citing fewer layoffs in manufacturing. In Michigan claims fell by 1,192, also due to fewer manufacturing layoffs.
Continuing unemployment claims were higher than a year ago.
"The total number of continued weeks claimed for benefits in all programs for the week ending May 10 was 1,808,372, an increase of 492 from the previous week," the Labor Department said in a statement. "There were 1,710,932 weekly claims filed for benefits in all programs in the comparable week in 2024."
