Government data due out Thursday is expected to show that initial claims filed for unemployment benefits rose last week for the second straight period.
Wall Street economists surveyed by Thomson/IFR forecast that claims rose to 380,000 for the week that ended May 17. The Labor Department is scheduled to release the data at 8:30 a.m. EDT.
The department last week said applications for unemployment benefits rose by 6,000 to 371,000, which was about what analysts had expected. It was the smallest one-week move in about two months.
The government's four-week moving average of new claims, which smooths out week-to-week fluctuations, last week fell by 1,000 to 365,750.
Still, several companies announced job cuts this week:
_ American Airlines, the nation's largest carrier, said it will lay off workers as part of a plan to counter record-high fuel prices. Parent company AMR Corp. said an undisclosed number of job cuts are coming at both American and American Eagle.
_ McGraw-Hill Cos., a major educational publisher and owner of Standard & Poor's, said it will cut 395 jobs. S&P will lose 246 jobs, while 149 will be cut from the education unit.
_ JPMorgan Chase & Co. Chief Executive James Dimon confirmed that the bank will be keeping 45 percent of the employees at Bear Stearns Cos., the struggling investment bank it agreed to buy in March. Dimon added that the acquisition will result in job cuts at JPMorgan, but would not say how many.
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