U.S. Weekly Jobless Claims Unexpectedly Drop To 280,000

(RTTNews) - First-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits unexpectedly decreased in the week ended December 20th, according to a report released by the Labor Department on Wednesday.

The report said initial jobless claims fell to 280,000, a decrease of 9,000 from the previous week's unrevised level of 289,000.

The modest decrease came as a surprise to economists, who had expected jobless claims to inch up to 290,000.

With the unexpected drop, jobless claims slid to their lowest level since hitting 278,000 in the week ended November 1st.

The Labor Department also said the less volatile four-week moving average dipped to 290,250, a decrease of 8,500 from the previous week's unrevised average of 298,750.

On the other hand, the report said continuing claims rose to 2.403 million in the week ended December 13th from the preceding week's revised level of 2.378 million.

Continuing claims represent a reading on the number of people receiving ongoing unemployment assistance.

The four-week moving average of continuing claims also climbed to 2,418,250 from the preceding week's revised average of 2,398,250.