U.S. Weekly Jobless Claims Unexpectedly Decrease

(RTTNews) - The Labor Department released a report on Thursday showing first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits expectedly declined in the week ended August 15th.

The report said initial jobless claims fell to 206,000, a decrease of 6,000 from the previous week's revised level of 212,000.

Economists had expected jobless claims to inch up to 211,000 from the 209,000 originally reported for the previous week.

Meanwhile, the Labor Department said the less volatile four-week moving average rose to 204,000, an increase of 4,250 from the previous week's revised average of 199,750.