By Moming Zhou, MarketWatch

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Copper futures edged higher Thursday after U.S. data showed last week's continuing jobless claims fell to the lowest level since May 9, raising hopes about an economic recovery. Gold was slightly lower.

On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, July copper futures rose 1.25 cents, or 0.6%, to $2.272 a pound. It fell more than 1% earlier in the session.

Despite Thursday's gain, copper is still more than 7% lower than the eight-month high hit a week ago.

Helping copper move higher Thursday, the Labor Department reported continuing jobless claims fell by 148,000 to 6.68 million during the week ending June 6. The data, however, also showed that the number of Americans filing initial claims for unemployment benefits edged up last week.

Also helping copper move higher, economic figures showed improvements in manufacturing in the Philadelphia region and in an index of leading indicators.

Manufacturing firms in the Philadelphia region reported the best business conditions since September, the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia said Thursday. The Philly Fed index improved to negative 2.2 in June from negative 22.6 in May.

The metal was lower earlier in the session after data showed the global copper market recorded a surplus in the first four months of this year.

"In contrast to oil, base metals have already been tarnished," wrote analysts led by Barbara Lambrecht at Commerzbank in a note. Demand from China is rising, but that's "owing to state reserve purchases," while "the copper market still had a surplus."

The global copper market recorded a surplus of 133,000 metric tons during the first four months of this year, the World Bureau of Metal Statistics reported Wednesday. The surplus compares with a deficit of 161,000 metric tons in the same period in 2008.

Global consumption in the four months ended April stood at 5.874 million metric tons, down 4.6% from a year ago. Mine production was 5.02 million metric tons, up 1.6% from a year ago, the U.K.-based WBMS said.