TBI
Economists forecast that claims, which count people applying for unemployment insurance for the first time, rose to 250,000.
Last week, claims unexpectedly dropped to 235,000 - their lowest level since November 24, 1973.
"It is impressive that claims have achieved the same level of the 1970s in a labor market that has roughly doubled in size. It is so impressive that there is some skepticism regarding the comparability of current claims data relative to the claims data from 40 years ago," wrote Ward McCarthy, chief financial economist at Jefferies, in a note to clients.
Initial jobless claims are used as a real-time proxy for the pace of layoffs and the overall health of the labor market, since people usually file for benefits soon after they lose their jobs.
As of last week, claims have been below 300,000 for 89 consecutive weeks.