The U.S. Labor Department released its jobless claims figures on Thursday. The number of initial jobless claims in the week ending May 16 in the U.S. climbed by 10,000 to 274,000 from 264,000 in the previous week, missing expectations for a rise by 7,000.

Low jobless claims could be interpreted as the strengthening of the labour market.

Continuing jobless claims declined by 12,000 to 2,211,000 in the week ended May 9, the lowest level since November 11, 2000.