A report released by the Labor Department on Thursday showed a slight uptick in first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits in the week ended May 20th.
The report said initial jobless claims inched up to 234,000, an increase of 1,000 from the previous week's revised level of 233,000.
Economists had expected jobless claims to climb to 238,000 from the 232,000 originally reported for the previous week.
Meanwhile, the Labor Department said the less volatile four-week moving average fell to 235,250, a decrease of 5,750 from the previous week's revised average of 241,000. With the decrease, the four-week moving average dropped to its lowest level since hitting 232,750 in April of 1973.
Continuing claims, a reading on the number of people receiving ongoing unemployment assistance, rose by 24,000 to 1.932 million in the week ended May 13th.
The four-week moving average of continuing claims still fell to a 43-year low of 1,930,250, a decrease of 16,000 from the previous week's revised average of 1,946,250.
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