U.S. Weekly Jobless Claims Fall Much More Than Expected

Providing an encouraging sign for the labor market, the Labor Department released a report on Thursday showing that first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits dropped to their lowest level in over fourteen years in the week ended January 24th.

The Labor Department said initial jobless claims tumbled to 265,000, a decrease of 43,000 from the previous week’s revised level of 308,000.

Economists had expected jobless claims to dip to 300,000 from the 307,000 originally reported for the previous week.

With the much bigger than expected decrease, jobless claims fell to their lowest level since hitting 259,000 in the week ended April 15, 2000.

However, the Labor Department said the sharp pullback by jobless claims was partly due to seasonal issues around the Martin Luther King, Jr. Day holiday.

Published: 2015-01-29 13:43:00 UTC+00

U.S. Weekly Jobless Claims Fall Much More Than Expected