A report released by the Labor Department on Thursday showed first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits unexpectedly edged lower in the week ended December 10th.
The Labor Department said initial jobless claims dipped to 211,000, a decrease of 20,000 from the previous week's revised level of 231,000
Economists had expected jobless claims to come in unchanged compared to the 230,000 originally reported for the previous week.
The report showed the less volatile four-week moving average also edged down to 227,250, a decrease of 3,000 from the previous week's revised average of 230,250.
