The number of Americans filing new applications for jobless benefits surged to a two-month high last week, but that likely did not mark a material shift in labor market conditions as the rise was related to school spring breaks in New York state.

There were 241,000 initial jobless claims in the week ending April 26, according to data published Thursday by the United States (US) Department of Labor (DOL). This figure follows the previous week's print of 223,000 (revised from 222,000) and came in worse than the market expectation of 224,000.

The Department of Labor said Thursday weekly initial jobless claims are up by a more than expected 18,000 to 241,000, seasonally adjusted.