With the more closely watched monthly jobs report looming, the Labor Department released a report on Thursday showing first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits declined from an upwardly revised level in the week ended April 1st.
The Labor Department said initial jobless claims fell to 228,000, a decrease of 18,000 from the previous week's revised level of 246,000.
Economists had expected initial jobless claims to inch up to 200,000 from the 198,000 originally reported for the previous week.
The report said the less volatile four-week moving average also dipped to 237,750, a decrease of 4,250 from the previous week's revised average of 242,000.
The Labor Department noted that beginning the latest data, the methodology used to seasonally adjust the national initial claims and continued claims reflects a change in the estimation of the models.
