A report released by the Labor Department on Thursday showed first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits pulled back by more than expected in the week ended January 25th.
The Labor Department said initial jobless claims fell to 207,000, a decrease of 16,000 from the previous week's unrevised level of 223,000.
The report also said the less volatile four-week moving average edged down to 212,500, a decrease of 1,000 from the previous week's unrevised average of 213,500.
Continuing claims, a reading on the number of people receiving ongoing unemployment assistance, also fell by 42,000 to 1.858 million in the week ended January 18th.
The four-week moving average of continuing claims still crept up to 1,872,000, an increase of 6,000 from the previous week's revised average of 1,866,000.