With the more closely watched monthly jobs report looming, the Labor Department released a report on Thursday showing a slight increase in first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits in the week ended May 27th.
The report said initial jobless claims crept up to 232,000, an increase of 2,000 from the previous week's revised level of 230,000.
Economists had expected jobless claims to rise to 235,000 from the 229,000 originally reported for the previous week.
Meanwhile, the Labor Department said the less volatile four-week moving average edged down to 229,500, a decrease of 2,500 from the previous week's revised average of 232,000.
