First-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits fell by more than expected in the week ended May 18th, according to a report released by the Labor Department on Thursday.
The report showed that initial jobless claims fell to 340,000, a decrease of 23,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 363,000.
Economists had expected jobless claims to drop to about 345,000 from the 360,000 originally reported for the previous week.
With the bigger than expected drop, jobless claims partly offset the notable jump seen in the previous week, although claims remain above their recent five-year lows.
"The good news…the U.S. labor market continues to improve," said Jennifer Lee, senior economist at BMO Capital. "The bad news is…the handwringing will continue over fears of the Fed pulling back stimulus. Weird, huh?"
The Labor Department said the less volatile four-week moving average edged down to 339,500, a decrease of 500 from the previous week's revised average of 340,000.
Continuing claims, a reading on the number of people receiving ongoing unemployment assistance, also fell to 2.912 million in the week ended May 11th from the preceding week's revised level of 3.024 million.
The sharp drop pulled continuing claims down to their lowest level since hitting 2.897 million in the week ended March 15, 2008.
The four-week moving average of continuing claims slid to 2,995,250, a decrease of 23,750 from the preceding week's revised average of 3,019,000.
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June 05, 2026 16:18 ET A busy week for economic news flow saw a slew of reports being released that reflected the trends in the U.S. labor market. In Europe, economic growth and inflation data gained attention as the European Central Bank and Bank of England head for policy session later in the month. In Asia, the monetary policy session of the Indian central bank was in focus as the country, a major oil importer, reels under the pressures of a weaker rupee and rising inflation.