First-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits fell by more than expected in the week ended May 18th, according to a report released by the Labor Department on Thursday.

The report showed that initial jobless claims fell to 340,000, a decrease of 23,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 363,000.

Economists had expected jobless claims to drop to about 345,000 from the 360,000 originally reported for the previous week.