2021.05.1312:34:00UTC+00U.S. Initial Jobless Claims Dip More Than Expected

First-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits fell by more than expected in the week ended May 8th, according to a report released by the Labor Department on Thursday.

The report said initial jobless claims dipped to 473,000, a decrease of 34,000 from the previous week's revised level of 507,000.

Economists had expected jobless claims to edge down to 490,000 from the 498,000 originally reported for the previous week.

With the bigger than expected decrease, jobless claims once again fell to their lowest level since hitting 256,000 in the week ended March 14, 2020.