First-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits climbed more than expected in the week ended June 11th, according to a report released by the Labor Department on Thursday.
The report said initial jobless claims rose to 277,000, an increase of 13,000 from the previous week's unrevised level of 264,000. Economists had expected jobless claims to edge up to 270,000.
With the bigger than expected increase, jobless claims rebounded after falling to their lowest level in over a month in the previous week.
Nonetheless, the Labor Department said the less volatile four-week moving average edged down to 269,250, a decrease of 250 from the previous week's unrevised average of 269,500.
The modest drop pulled the four-week moving average down to its lowest level since hitting 268,250 in the week ended May 7th.
Meanwhile, the report said continuing claims, a reading on the number of people receiving ongoing unemployment assistance, climbed by 45,000 to 2.157 million in the week ended June 4th.
The four-week moving average of continuing claims also crept up to 2,150,250, an increase of 1,000 from the previous week's revised average of 2,149,250.
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