A report released by the Labor Department on Thursday showed first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits declined roughly in line with economist estimates in the week ended December 13th.

The Labor Department said initial jobless claims fell to 224,000, a decrease of 13,000 from the previous week's revised level of 237,000.

Meanwhile, the report said the less volatile four-week moving average crept up to 217,500, an increase of 500 from the previous week's revised average of 217,000.

Continuing claims, a reading on the number of people receiving ongoing unemployment assistance, also rose by 67,000 to 1.897 million in the week ended December 6th.

The four-week moving average of continuing claims still fell to 1.902 million, a decrease of 14,000 from the previous week's revised average of 1.916 million.

Powered by Commodity Insights