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.