Investing.com -- The number of Americans who turned in first-time claims for state unemployment benefits rose by more than anticipated last week, but did not stray too far from a four-month low touched in the prior week.
Seasonally-adjusted initial jobless claims climbed to 225,000 in the week ended on Sept. 28, increasing from an upwardly-revised mark of 219,000 last week, data from the Labor Department showed on Thursday. Economists had anticipated 222,000.
The earlier reading for the week ended on Sept. 21 was 218,000 -- the lowest since mid-May.
Meanwhile, the four-week moving average, which aims to account for volatility in the weekly total, came in at 224,250, down marginally by 750 from the previous week's updated level.
The number of people who received aid after an initial week, a measure of hiring, also decreased to 1.826 million in the week ended on Sept. 21, a drop of 1,000.
The figures pave the way for the crucial nonfarm payrolls report on Friday, which is tipped to show that the American economy added slightly more jobs in September.
Along with the jobs report, investors will likely use a raft of indicators this week -- including job openings, private payrolls, and manufacturing and services sector activity gauges -- to assess the state of the US labor market and the broader economy ahead of the Federal Reserve's upcoming policy meeting in November.
The central bank slashed interest rates by an outsized 50 basis points last month, with officials saying they were keen to provide support to labor demand during a time of waning inflationary pressures.
Policymakers also signaled the start of a wider easing cycle, although it remains uncertain whether the Fed will opt to roll out another jumbo cut or a more traditional quarter-point reduction next month.
There is currently a roughly 63% chance the Fed will choose a 25-basis point cut and a 37% probability it will lower borrowing costs by half a percentage point, according to the CME Group's (NASDAQ:CME) FedWatch Tool.