First-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits edged slightly lower in the week ended November 12th, according to a report released by the Labor Department on Thursday.
The report said initial jobless claims dipped to 222,000, a decrease of 4,000 from the previous week's revised level of 226,000.
Economists had expected jobless claims to come in unchanged compared to the 225,000 originally reported for the previous week.
Meanwhile, the Labor Department said the less volatile four-week moving average crept up to 221,000, an increase of 2,000 from the previous week's revised average of 219,000.
The report said continuing claims, a reading on the number of people receiving ongoing unemployment assistance, also edged up by 13,000 to 1.507 million in the week ended November 5th.
The four-week moving average of continuing claims also rose to 1,481,500, an increase of 31,000 from the previous week's revised average of 1,450,500.
