U.S. Weekly Jobless Claims Pull Back More Than Expected

(RTTNews) - After reporting first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits climbed to a nearly four-year high in the previous week, the Labor Department released a report on Thursday showing initial jobless claims pulled back by more than expected in the week ended September 13th.

The Labor Department said initial jobless claims fell to 231,000, a decrease of 33,000 from the previous week's revised level of 264,000.

Economists had expected jobless claims to pull back to 240,000 from the 263,000 originally reported for the previous week.

The report also said the less volatile four-week moving average edged down to 240,000, a decrease of 750 from the previous week's revised average of 240,750.