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.
