The data from
the Labour Department showed on
Thursday the number of applications for unemployment unexpectedly fell last week.
According to
the report, the initial claims for unemployment benefits dropped by
12,000 to 201,000 for the week ended February
17. This marked the lowest weekly total since mid-January.
Economists had predicted
218,000 new claims last week.
Claims for the prior week
were revised upwardly to 213,000 from the original estimate of 212,000.
Meanwhile, the
four-week moving average of jobless claims declined to 215,250 from an upwardly revised 218,750 (from 218,500)
in the previous week. This represented the first decrease in four weeks.
As for
continuing claims, they slipped to 1,862,000 from a downwardly revised 1,889,000
(from 1,895,000) in the previous week. This was the lowest reading in four weeks. Economists had foreseen continuing jobless claims of 1,885,000.