In the week ending May 21, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims for unemployment insurance was 268,000, a decrease of 10,000 from the previous week’s unrevised level of 278,000, the Labor Department reported. The four-week moving average was 278,500, an increase of 2,750 from the previous week’s unrevised average of 275,750.

New orders for manufactured durable goods in April increased $7.7 billion or 3.4% to $235.9 billion, the U.S. Census Bureau announced. This increase, up three of the last four months, followed a 1.9% March increase. Excluding transportation, new orders increased 0.4%. Excluding defense, new orders increased 3.7%. Transportation equipment, also up three of the last four months, led the increase, at $7.1 billion or 8.9% to $87.1 billion.

Thursday, the Dow closed 23.22 points (0.13%) lower at 17,828.29, the NASDAQ was up 6.88 points (0.14%) at 4,901.77, and the S&P 500 was virtually unchanged at 2,090.10. The Russell 2000 decreased by 1.27 (0.11%) to 1,139.75, and the Wilshire 5000 was down 10.95 points (0.05%) at 21,602.68.

On the NYSE, 3.1 billion shares traded, with a slight lead for advancers. On the NASDAQ, 2.7 billion shares changed hands, with 1.3 declining issues for every advancing issue.

ON THIS DATE: In 1907, the Bubonic Plague broke out in San Francisco. In 1926, bronze figures of Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer were erected in Hannibal, Missouri. In 1933, Walt Disney’s “Three Little Pigs” was first released. In 1933, in the U.S., the Federal Securities Act was signed. The act required the registration of securities with the Federal Trade Commission. In 1937, in California, the Golden Gate Bridge was opened to pedestrian traffic. The bridge connected San Francisco and Marin County. In 1969, construction of Walt Disney World began in Florida. In 1995, in Charlottesville, Virginia, “Superman” actor Christopher Reeve was paralyzed after being thrown from his horse during a jumping event.

In an unrevealed location, a woman was using a public restroom when someone came in, used the baby changing table and left it down. Left open, the table blocked the door and trapped her inside the stall. “She had to wait for another person to enter the bathroom in order to be set free,” her son said, according to the Huffington Post.

In Minot, Minnesota, police responded to a hospital emergency room that reported a man had come in saying he was attacked by a bear. Upon investigation, the police found two men climbed the fence of the Roosevelt Park Zoo after it closed and were walking the grounds when they came upon the bear enclosure. One man stuck his arm through the bars of the enclosure aiming to entice one of the bears to come closer, and a bear bit his right hand, according to MSN News. Yes, alco.hol was involved.                                 

In Lancaster, Pennsylvania, a story from the “Doh!” files. An inmate in the county jail who was supposed to be released in November 2014, wasn’t released until last month. Apparently, new charges against another inmate with the same name were mistakenly duplicated and put in both inmates’ files. According to the Associated Press, Warden Cheryl Steberger issued a statement saying officials wanted to publicly acknowledge the mistake and apologize. That makes it all better.

In New York City, the Health Department announced that it registered 1,127 dogs named Bella and 1,073 named Max in 2015. It licensed 27 dogs named Bean, 17 dogs named Raisin and 15 dogs named Potato last year. A total of 605 licensed dogs answered to Daisy, the most popular flower name. There were also 10 Tulips, four Primroses and two Daffodils. Names that were popular with certain breeds included Snoopy for beagles and Tyson for boxers.

Somewhere in the UK, a man has been ordered by his landlord to remove a fish pond from his backyard.  The structure, which is home to 80 fish, has a wall of concrete blocks surrounding it and the entire garden is surrounded by a 6-foot wooden fence. The man claims his landlord, Sovereign, started complaining when he added two extra concrete blocks around the water’s edge to stop his one-year-old daughter from falling in. The reason the landlord wants it removed: it could pose a danger—to burglars. “The reason they gave was if someone breaks into the back garden they can fall in the pond because there’s a six-foot fence all round and they can’t see it. I said ‘well they shouldn’t be breaking in,’” the man said, according to The Mirror.