A report released by the Labor Department on Thursday showed a slight uptick by initial jobless claims in the U.S. in the week ended December 16th.
The Labor Department said first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits crept up to 205,000, an increase of 2,000 from the previous week's revised level of 203,000.
Economists had expected jobless claims to rise to 215,000 from the 202,000 originally reported for the previous week.
Meanwhile, the report said the less volatile four-week moving average edged down to 212,000, a decrease of 1,500 from the previous week's revised average of 213,500.
