The Labor Department released a report on Thursday that revealed an unexpected rise in first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits for the week ending June 8th.
According to the report, initial jobless claims increased to 242,000, marking a 13,000 rise from the previous week's unrevised figure of 229,000. Economists had anticipated a drop in jobless claims to around 225,000.
This unexpected increase pushed jobless claims to their highest level since they reached 248,000 in the week ending August 12, 2023.
The Labor Department also noted that the less volatile four-week moving average climbed to 227,000, up by 4,750 from the previous week's unrevised average of 222,250.
Additionally, the report highlighted that continuing claims, which measure the number of individuals receiving ongoing unemployment assistance, rose by 30,000 to 1.820 million for the week ending June 1st.
The four-week moving average of continuing claims also increased to 1,796,750, up by 8,500 from the prior week's revised average of 1,788,250.
Last Friday, a separate report from the Labor Department indicated that employment in the U.S. surged significantly higher than economists had expected in May.
The Department reported that non-farm payroll employment jumped by 272,000 jobs in May, following a downward revision to an increase of 165,000 jobs in April.
Economists had projected an employment growth of about 185,000 jobs, as opposed to the initial report of 175,000 jobs added in the previous month.
In contrast, the report noted that the unemployment rate edged up to 4.0 percent in May, from 3.9 percent in April. The unemployment rate was expected to remain steady.
