--US new jobless claims -41,000 at 384,000 in latest week
--US new jobless claims 4-week average -3,000 at 402,500
--US jobless claiming benefits +56,000 at 2.727 million
--US jobless benefits 4-week average +43,250 at 2,639,750

Washington, May 10 (BridgeNews) - New claims for U.S. state unemployment insurance benefits unexpectedly fell 41,000, to 384,000, during the week ended Saturday, wiping out an increase of 36,000 over the past two weeks, the U.S.
Labor Department said. Initial claims in the latest week were well below the 420,000 median estimate of analysts surveyed by BridgeNews. The 4-week moving average fell 3,000 to 402,500.
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Analysts surveyed by BridgeNews put initial jobless claims for the latest week in a range of 410,000 to 425,000.
A Labor Department aide was unable to offer an explanation for the sharp decline in claims in the latest week.
For the week ended April 28, initial claims rose 13,000 to a seasonally adjusted 425,000, originally reported as 421,000, Labor said. For the same week, the 4-week moving average for new claims was 405,500, originally 404,500 per week.
In new data for the week ended April 28, 2.727 million people were reported claiming unemployment benefits under regular state programs, the highest since the week of June 18, 1994 and up 56,000 from the previous week's revised 2.671 million, Labor said. The four-week moving average for the week for continuing claims rose 43,250, to 2,639,750, the highest level since the week of April 13, 1996.
The seasonally adjusted rate of insured unemployment during the week ended April 28 held steady at 2.1%. The ratio represents people claiming benefits as a percentage of the workforce potentially eligible for these benefits.
Data on continuing claims and the insured unemployment rate are reported with a one-week delay. End
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