First-Time U.S. Unemployment Benefit Claims Down Slightly

First-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits saw a modest decline in the week ended May 3rd, according to a report released by the Labor Department on Thursday.

The report said initial jobless claims dipped to 228,000, a decrease of 13,000 from the previous week’s unrevised level of 241,000. Economists had expected jobless claims to slip to 230,000.

Meanwhile, the Labor Department said the less volatile four-week moving average inched up to 227,000, an increase of 1,000 from the previous week’s unrevised average of 226,000.

The Labor Department also released a separate report showing a pullback by U.S. labor productivity in the first quarter of 2025 along with a sharp increase by unit labor costs.

The report said labor productivity fell by 0.8 percent in the first quarter after jumping by an upwardly revised 1.7 percent in the fourth quarter of 2024.

Economists had expected labor productivity to decrease by 0.4 percent compared to the 1.5 percent increase that had been reported for the previous quarter.

Meanwhile, the report said unit labor costs soared by 5.7 percent in the first quarter after shooting up by a revised 2.0 percent in the fourth quarter.

Economists had expected unit labor costs to spike by 5.3 percent compared to the 2.2 percent surge originally reported for the previous quarter.

At 10 am ET, the Commerce Department is due to release its report on wholesale inventories in the month of March. Wholesale inventories are expected to climb by 0.5 percent in March after rising by 0.3 percent in February, unchanged from the preliminary estimate.

The Treasury Department is scheduled to announce the results of this month’s auction of $25 billion worth of twenty-year bonds at 1 pm ET.