U.S. Weekly Jobless Claims Unexpectedly Edge Down To 236,000

First-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits unexpectedly edged lower in the week ended May 6th, the Labor Department revealed in a report on Thursday.

The report said initial jobless claims dipped to 236,000, a decrease of 2,000 from the previous week's unrevised level of 238,000. Economists had expected jobless claims to rise to 245,000.

Meanwhile, the Labor Department said the less volatile four-week moving average inched up to 243,500, an increase of 500 from the previous week's unrevised average of 243,000.

Continuing claims, a reading on the number of people receiving ongoing unemployment assistance, fell by 61,000 to 1.918 million in the week ended April 29th.

The decrease pulled continuing claims down to their lowest level since hitting 1.898 million in November of 1988.

The four-week moving average of continuing claims also slid to a 43-year low of 1,965,500, a decrease of 27,500 from the previous week's revised average of 1,993,000.

Last Friday, a separate report from the Labor Department showed much stronger than expected job growth in the month of April.

The report said non-farm payroll employment jumped by 211,000 jobs in April after climbing by a downwardly revised 79,000 jobs in March.

Economists had expected employment to increase by 185,000 jobs compared to the addition of 98,000 jobs originally reported for the previous month.

With the stronger than expected job growth, the unemployment rate edged down to 4.4 percent in April from 4.5 percent in March. The unemployment rate had been expected to tick up to 4.6 percent.

The unexpected decrease pulled the unemployment rate down to its lowest level since a matching rate in May of 2007.