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First-time weekly jobless claims in the U.S. fell by 1,000 to a seasonally adjusted 298,000 during the week to Saturday, the Labor Department said Thursday.

The previous week's claims were revised up by 1,000 to 299,000.

Heading into the report, consensus expectations compiled by various news organizations showed economists expected to see about 299,000 to 302,000 new claims.



Meanwhile, the four-week moving average for new claims – often viewed as a more reliable measure of the labor market since it smoothens out week-to-week volatility – was down by 1,250 claims to 299,750.

Continuing jobless claims, the number of people already receiving benefits and reported with a one-week delay, rose by 25,000 claims to a seasonally adjusted 2.527 million during the week ending Aug. 16.

Avery Shenfeld, senior economist at CIBC World Markets, said the jobless claims data, which were relatively in line with expectations were a "non-story" for markets. He added the data continues to "point to decent hiring."

U.S. gross domestic product rose by a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.2% in the second quarter, the Commerce Department said Thursday.

This was revised up from the advance second-quarter estimate of 4% released in late July. The figure was also above consensus estimates of economists polled by news organizations, which called for GDP to be up by 3.9% to 4%.

The data shows the economy turning around from an abysmal first quarter, when the broad measure of goods and services produced in the U.S. economy fell by 2.1%.

CIBC World Markets described the upward revision in GDP as “a surprise, but really not a big deal,” with an uptick in consumption, non-residential investment and net trade behind the gain.

“Of course, more important is the recent widespread strengthening in the business and consumer surveys, which suggests that GDP growth in the third quarter could be a decent 3%,” said Paul Dales, senior U.S. economist with Capital Economics. “So although the weak first quarter means that GDP growth this year as a whole is still likely to be around 2%, a strong second half of the year sets things up nicely for growth of 3% next year.”

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