The data from
the Labour Department showed on
Thursday the number of applications for unemployment unexpectedly fell last week.
According to
the report, the initial claims for unemployment benefits dropped by
5,000 to 207,000
for the week ended April 20. This was the lowest weekly total
since mid-February.
Economists had forecast
214,000 new claims last week.
Claims for the
prior week were left unrevised at 212,000.
Meanwhile, the
four-week moving average of jobless claims decreased to 213,250 compared to an unrevised 214,500 in the previous week. This represented
the lowest count in four weeks.
As for continuing
claims, they fell to 1,781,000 from a downwardly revised 1,769,000 (from 1,812,000)
in the previous week. This marked the lowest reading since mid-January.