The data from
the Labour Department showed on Thursday that the number of applications for
unemployment unexpectedly fell last week.
According to
the report, the initial claims for unemployment benefits declined by 4,000 to 217,000 for the week that ended November 9. This
represented the lowest weekly total since the week ended May 18 (216,000).
Economists had predicted
223,000 new claims last week.
Claims for the
prior week were left unrevised at 221,000.
Meanwhile, the
four-week moving average of jobless claims fell to 221,000 from
an unrevised 227,250 in the previous week. This marked the lowest count since mid-May.
As for
continuing claims, they decreased to 1,873,000 from an unrevised 1,892,000 in the previous week. Economists
had foreseen continuing jobless claims of 1,880,000.