Initial jobless claims plunged 24,000 to 297,000 in the week ended May 10, the Labor Department said Thursday.
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Claims for the week ended May 3 were revised to 321,000 from the 319,000 initially reported.
Continuing jobless claims were 2.667 million in the week ended May 3, down from the downwardly revised 2.676 million the week before, first reported as 2.685 million.
Economists polled by Thomson Reuters expected 319,000 initial and 2.690 million continuing claims.
The four-week average of initial claims were down 2,000 in the week ended May 10 to 323,250.
