(fxcue news) - First-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits fell by much more than expected in the week ended July 6th, the Labor Department revealed in a report released on Thursday. The report said initial jobless claims slid to 222,000, a decrease of 17,000 from the previous week's revised level of 239,000. Economists had expected jobless claims to edge down to 236,000 from the 238,000 originally reported for the previous week. "Initial claims for unemployment insurance benefits were lower than expected in the week ended July 6, helped by a generous seasonal adjustment factor for the week that included the July 4th holiday," said Nancy Vanden Houten, Lead U.S. Economist at Oxford Economics. She added, "Seasonal factors will make the data noisy for the next three weeks, making it difficult to discern too much from the data." The Labor Department said the less volatile four-week moving average also dipped to 233,500, a decrease of 5,250 from the previous week's revised average of 238,750. Continuing claims, a reading on the number of people receiving ongoing unemployment assistance, also edged down by 4,000 to 1.852 million in the week ended June 29th. Meanwhile, the four-week moving average of continuing claims climbed by 9,750 to 1,840,250, reaching its highest level since early December 2021. A separate report released by the Labor Department last Friday showed employment in the U.S. jumped by more than expected in the month of June, although the report also showed another unexpected uptick by the unemployment rate. The Labor Department said non-farm payroll employment shot up by 206,000 jobs in June compared to economist estimates for an increase of about 190,000 jobs. Employment in the healthcare and social assistance sector once again contributed to the stronger than expected job growth, while the report also showed a significant increase in government jobs. Meanwhile, the report showed a slump by temporary help services jobs as well as modest decreases in retail and manufacturing jobs. The Labor Department also said the increases in employment in April and May were downwardly revised to 108,000 jobs and 218,000 jobs, respectively, reflecting a net downward revision of 111,000 jobs. The unemployment rate also rose for the third straight month, inching up to 4.1 percent in June from 4.0 percent in May. Economists had expected the unemployment rate to remain unchanged. With the unexpected uptick, the unemployment rate reached its highest level since hitting a matching rate in November 2021.