The U.S. economy should expand modestly in coming months as a healthy job market continues to trump weakness in housing prices, a gauge of future business activity showed on Thursday.

The Conference Board said its index of leading economic indicators rose a higher-than-expected 0.3 percent in May, boosted by rising stock prices, higher consumer expectations and the availability of jobs.

Economists said that jobs should continue to be plentiful, despite an unexpected surge in jobless claims last week.

The Labor Department reported Thursday that unemployment claims totaled 324,000 last week, up 10,000 from the previous week, to the highest level since mid-April. (AP)