WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - A report released by the Labor Department on Thursday showed a steep drop in first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits in the week ended February 20th.
The Labor Department said initial jobless claims tumbled to 730,000, a decrease of 111,000 from the previous week's revised level of 841,000.
Economists had expected jobless claims to drop to 838,000 from the 861,000 originally reported for the previous week.
The report showed the less volatile four-week moving average also fell to 807,750, a decrease of 20,500 from the previous week's revised average of 828,250.
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