WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - With release of the more closely watched monthly jobs report looming on Friday, the Labor Department released a report on Thursday showing an unexpected decline in first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits in the week ended October 31st.
The Labor Department said initial jobless claims fell to 189,000, a decrease of 6,000 from the previous week's revised level of 195,000.
Economists had expected jobless claims to inch up to 196,000 from the 194,000 originally reported for the previous week.
With the unexpected dip, jobless claims matched the multi-decade low of 189,000 set in the week ended July 18th.
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