U.S. Unemployment Benefit Claims Unexpectedly Down

A report released by the Labor Department on Thursday unexpectedly showed a slight decline by first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits in the week ended May 17th.

The Labor Department said initial jobless claims edged down to 227,000, a decrease of 2,000 from the previous week’s unrevised level of 229,000. The dip surprised economists, who had expected jobless claims to inch up to 230,000.

Meanwhile, the report said the less volatile four-week moving average crept up to 231,500, an increase of 1,000 from the previous week’s unrevised average of 230,500.

At 10 am ET, the National Association of Realtors is due to release its report on existing home sales in the month of April. Existing home sales are expected to increase to an annual rate of 4.13 million in April after plunging to a rate of 4.02 million in March.

The Treasury Department is scheduled to announce the details of this month’s auctions of two-year, five-year and seven-year notes at 1 pm ET.

At 2 pm ET, New York Federal Reserve President John Williams is due to deliver the keynote before Monetary Policy Implementation Workshop: “Unwinding Large Central Bank Balance Sheets.”