U.S. Weekly Initial Jobless Claims Dip To 205,000

(RTTNews) - The Labor Department released a report on Thursday showing an unexpected dip in first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits in the week ended March 14th.

The report said initial jobless claims fell to 205,000, a decrease of 8,000 from the previous week's unrevised level of 213,000. Economists had expected jobless claims to inch up to 215,000.

The Labor Department said the less volatile four-week moving average also edged down to 210,750, a decrease of 750 from the previous week's revised average of 211,500.