U.S. Weekly Jobless Claims Unexpectedly Unchanged At Eight-Month High

(RTTNews) - The Labor Department released a report on Thursday showing first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits came in flat in the week ended June 7th.

The report said initial jobless claims in at 248,000, unchanged from the previous week's revised level. Economists had expected jobless claims to dip to 240,000 from the 247,000 originally reported for the previous week.

Jobless claims held at their highest level since hitting 259,000 in the week ended October 5, 2024.

Meanwhile, the Labor Department said the less volatile four-week moving average crept up to 240,250, an increase of 5,000 from the previous week's revised average of 235,250.

With the uptick, the four-week moving average reached its highest level since hitting 245,000 in the week ended August 26, 2023.

Continuing claims, a reading on the number of people receiving ongoing unemployment assistance, also climbed by 54,000 to 1.956 million in the week ended May 31st.

The increase lifted continuing claims to their highest level since hitting 1.970 million in the week ended November 13, 2021.

The four-week moving average of continuing claims also reached its highest level since November 2021, rising by 19,750 to 1,914,500.

Last Friday, the Labor Department released a more closely watched report showing employment in the U.S. increased by slightly more than expected in the month of May.

The Labor Department said non-farm payroll employment shot up by 139,000 jobs in May after jumping by a downwardly revised 147,000 jobs in April.

Economists had expected employment to increase by about 130,000 jobs compared to the addition of 177,000 jobs originally reported for the previous month.

Meanwhile, the report said the unemployment rate came in at 4.2 percent in May, unchanged from the previous month and in line with economist estimates.