U.S. Weekly Jobless Claims Unexpectedly Fall To 227,000

(RTTNews) - After reporting an unexpected pullback by first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits in the previous week, the Labor Department released a report on Thursday showing initial jobless claims saw further downside in the week ended October 19th.

The report said initial jobless claims fell to 227,000, a decrease of 15,000 from the previous week's revised level of 242,000.

Economists had expected jobless claims to inch up to 242,000 from the 241,000 originally reported for the previous week.

Meanwhile, the Labor Department said the less volatile four-week moving average crept up to 238,500, an increase of 2,000 from the previous week's revised average of 236,500.