Initial jobless claims fell 11,000 to 304,000 in the week ended July 5, the Labor Department said Thursday.
Claims for the week ended June 28 were unrevised at 315,000.
Continuing jobless claims were 2.584 million in the week ended June 28, up from the revised 2.574 million the week before, initially reported as 2.579 million.
Economists polled by Thomson Reuters expected 312,000 initial and 2.565 million continuing claims.
The four-week average of initial claims was down 3,500 in the week ended July 5 to 311,500.
