First-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits unexpectedly came in flat in the week ended July 9th, according to a report released by the Labor Department on Thursday.
The report said initial jobless claims came in at 254,000, unchanged from the previous week's unrevised level. Economists had expected jobless claims to climb to 265,000.
With jobless claims holding steady during the week, they remained at the lowest level since hitting 248,000 in the week ended April 16th.
The Labor Department said the less volatile four-week moving average fell to 259,000, a decrease of 5,750 from the previous week's unrevised average of 264,750.
The decrease pulled the four-week moving average down to its lowest level since hitting 258,000 in the week ended April 30th.
Meanwhile, the report said continuing claims, a reading on the number of people receiving ongoing unemployment assistance, rose by 32,000 to 2.149 million in the week ended July 2nd.
The four-week moving average of continuing claims still fell to 2,143,000, a decrease of 3,250 from the previous week's revised average of 2,146,250.
Last Friday, the Labor Department released a separate report showing a much bigger than expected increase in employment in the month of June.
The report said non-farm payroll employment surged up by 287,000 jobs in June versus economist estimates for an increase of about 180,000 jobs.
Despite the strong job growth during the month, the unemployment rate rose to 4.9 percent in June from 4.7 percent in May. Economists had expected the rate to edge up to 4.8 percent.
However, the uptick by the unemployment rate reflected a rebound in the number of people in the labor force, which soared by 414,000 people in June after plunging by 458,000 people in May.
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April 24, 2026 15:15 ET Economics news flow was relatively light this week even as the conflict in the Middle East continued, raising concerns for policymakers. In the U.S., spending data, initial jobless claims and pending home sales were the highlights. Business confidence in the biggest euro area economy was in focus in Europe. Inflation data from Japan gained attention in Asia.