Following last Friday’s much stronger than expected monthly jobs report, the Labor Department released a report on Thursday showing first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits fell by more than expected in the week ended February 3rd.
The report said initial jobless claims slipped to 218,000, a decrease of 9,000 from the previous week’s upwardly revised level of 227,000.
Economists had expected jobless claims to edge down to 220,000 from the 224,000 originally reported for the previous week.
Meanwhile, the Labor Department said the less volatile four-week moving average rose to 212,250, an increase of 3,750 from the previous week’s revised average of 208,500.
Copyright © 2024, RTTNews.com, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
