U.S. initial jobless claims came in slightly lower than expected for the week ending May 3, with a total of 365k claims filed. Forecasts were looking for a total of 370k claims. The previous week's figure was revised up slightly to 383k from 380k.

The latest figure is just below the four-week moving average of 367k, which moved up from the previous week's reading of 364k. Economists say the average is a less volatile employment indicator than the weekly claims snapshot.

Jobless claims have retraced after reaching a two-and-a-half year high of 407,000 in the final week of March. The index's all-time high was reached on Sept. 30, 1982 when initial jobless claims surged to 671k. The all-time low was in 1968 when claims stood at 162k.

Continuing claims fell to 3020k in the week ending April 26, down from an upwardly revised reading of 3030k in the previous week.

Continuing claims reached their highest level of 4637k in May 1975 and dipped to their lowest level of 988k in May 1969.

By Stephen Huebl, This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it , edited by Nancy Girgis, This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it