Jobless claims crept down 12,000 filings to 334,000 for the week ending June 8, the Department of Labor posted.

In addition, the 4-week moving average hit 345,250, falling 7,250 from the previous week’s unrevised average of 352,500. 

However, this is still trending about 5,000 higher than the month-ago comparison which doesn’t yet point to strength for the June employment report, analysts with Econoday said. 

They added, “There are no special factors skewing any of this report which should be a source of optimism for the economic outlook. Whether it will be a plus for the markets is uncertain given the play right now between economic growth and Fed tapering.”