WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - First-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits unexpectedly declined in the week ended October 17th, according to a report released by the Labor Department on Thursday.
The report said initial jobless claims fell to 194,000, a decrease of 6,000 from the previous week's revised level of 200,000.
Economists had expected jobless claims to inch up to 200,000 from the 199,000 originally reported for the previous week.
With the unexpected dip, jobless claims dropped to their lowest level since hitting a multi-decade low of 189,000 in the week ended July 18th.
The Labor Department said the less volatile four-week moving average also edged down to 197,750, a decrease of 1,000 from the previous week's revised average of 198,750.
Meanwhile, the report said continuing claims, a reading on the number of people receiving ongoing unemployment benefits, climbed by 25,000 to 1.728 million in the week ended October 10th.
The four-week moving average of continuing claims also rose to 1,711,000, an increase of 4,000 from the previous week's revised average of 1,707,000.
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