12:47 PM EDT, 05/02/2024 (MT Newswires) -- Weekly applications for unemployment insurance in the US were flat, government data showed Thursday, while a separate report showed that layoffs plunged 28% sequentially last month.

The seasonally adjusted number of initial claims was unchanged week to week at 208,000 for the week ended April 27, the US Department of Labor said. The consensus was for an increase to a 211,000 level in a survey of analysts compiled by Bloomberg. The previous week's reading was revised up by 1,000.

The four-week moving average came in at 210,000, down by 3,500 from the prior week's revised average. Unadjusted claims fell by 13,884 on a weekly basis to 188,740.

For the week ended April 20, seasonally adjusted continuing claims totaled 1.77 million, unchanged from the previous week's level that was revised down by 7,000. The Bloomberg consensus was for 1.79 million. The four-week moving average was about 1.79 million, dropping 3,750 from the previous week's downwardly revised average, according to the DOL.

Massachusetts saw the highest gain in initial claims for the week ended April 20 at 3,575, followed by Rhode Island with 1,737 and Texas with 450. The largest decreases were in New York at 4,253, Pennsylvania at 2,763 and Oregon at 1,712.

Claims have been locked between a narrow 200,000 to 222,000 range since the first week of February, while the last two weekly prints were the lowest for initial claims since Feb. 17, according to Jefferies US Economist Thomas Simons. "The data shows no evidence of increasing layoffs or increasing friction against people finding a new job after losing one," he said.

US-based employers cut 64,789 jobs in April, a 28% decline from March and down 3.3% from a year ago, according to Challenger, Gray & Christmas. "The labor market remains tight. But as labor costs continue to rise, companies will be slower to hire, and we expect further cuts will be needed," said Andrew Challenger, the company's senior vice president.

Automatic Data Processing (ADP) on Wednesday reported a bigger-than-expected 192,000 increase in April private sector employment. On Friday, the market is expecting April nonfarm payrolls to increase by 241,000, a deceleration from March's 303,000 gain, according to the Bloomberg consensus.