2018.07.1909:09:00UTC+00U.S. Jobless Claims Unexpectedly Drop To Lowest Level Since 1969

A report released by the Labor Department on Thursday showed an unexpected decrease in first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits in the week ended July 14th, with initial jobless claims falling to their lowest level in almost five decades.

The Labor Department said initial jobless claims fell to 207,000, a decrease of 8,000 from the previous week's revised level of 215,000.

Economists had expected jobless claims to inch up to 220,000 from the 214,000 originally reported for the previous week.

With the unexpected decrease, jobless claims dropped to their lowest level since hitting 202,000 in December of 1969.

The less volatile four-week moving average also dipped to 220,500, a decrease of 2,750 from the previous week's revised average of 223,250.

On the other hand, the report said continuing claims, an indicator of the number of people receiving ongoing unemployment assistance, rose by 8,000 to 1.751 million in the week ended July 7th.

The four-week moving average of continuing claims also climbed to 1,735,750, an increase of 6,250 from the previous week's revised average of 1,729,500.