The Labor Department released a report on Thursday showing an unexpected increase by first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits in the week ended June 8th.
The report said initial jobless claims climbed to 242,000, an increase of 13,000 from the previous week’s unrevised level of 229,000. Economists had expected jobless claims to edge down to 225,000.
With the unexpected increase, jobless claims reached their highest level since hitting 248,000 in the week ended August 12, 2023.
The Labor Department said the less volatile four-week moving average also rose to 227,000, an increase of 4,750 from the previous week’s unrevised average of 222,250.
A separate report released by the Labor Department on Thursday showed producer prices in the U.S. unexpectedly edged lower in the month of May.
The Labor Department said its producer price index for final demand dipped by 0.2 percent in May after climbing by 0.5 percent in April. Economists had expected producer prices to inch up by 0.1 percent.
The report also said the annual rate of producer price growth slowed to 2.2 percent in May from an upwardly revised 2.3 percent in April.
Economists had expected the annual rate of producer price growth to accelerate to 2.5 percent from the 2.2 percent originally reported for the previous month.
At 11 am ET, the Treasury Department is scheduled to announce the details of this month’s twenty-year bond auction.
New York Federal Reserve President John Williams is due to moderate a discussion before the Economic Club of New York at 12 pm ET.
At 1 pm ET, the Treasury Department is scheduled to announce the results of this month’s auction of $16 billion worth of thirty-year bonds.