A report released by the Labor Department on Thursday unexpectedly showed a modest decrease by first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits in the week ended July 12th.
The Labor Department said initial jobless claims fell to 221,000, a decrease of 7,000 from the previous week's revised level of 228,000.
With the unexpected dip, jobless claims dropped to their lowest level since hitting 216,000 in the week ended April 12th.
The report said the less volatile four-week moving average also slipped to 229,500, a decrease of 6,250 from the previous week's revised average of 235,750.
Meanwhile, the Labor Department said continuing claims, a reading on the number of people receiving ongoing unemployment assistance, inched up by 2,000 to 1.956 million in the week ended July 5th.
The four-week moving average of continuing claims also rose by 4,750 to 1,957,500, reaching its highest level since November 2021.