First-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits showed a modest decrease in the week ended October 13th, according to a report released by the Labor Department on Thursday.
The report said initial jobless claims slipped to 210,000, a decrease of 5,000 from the previous week's revised level of 215,000.
Economists had expected jobless claims to edged down to 212,000 from the 214,000 originally reported for the previous week.
Meanwhile, the Labor Department said the less volatile four-week moving average crept up to 211,750, an increase of 2,00 from the previous week's revised average of 209,750.
Continuing claims, a reading on the number of people receiving ongoing unemployment assistance, fell by 13,000 to 1.640 million in the week ended October 6th.
With the decrease, continuing claims dropped to their lowest level since hitting 1.633 million in August of 1973.
The report said the four-week moving average of continuing claims also dipped by 1,250 to a forty-five year low of 1.653 million.
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