A report released by the Labor Department on Thursday showed first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits pulled back in the week ended December 14th.

The Labor Department said initial jobless claims fell to 220,000, a decrease of 22,000 from the previous week's unrevised level of 242,000. The bigger than expected decline came after jobless claims rose in the two previous weeks, climbing off their lowest level in over six months.

Meanwhile, the report said the less volatile four-week moving average crept up to 225,500, an increase of 1,250 from the previous week's unrevised average of 224,250.

The Labor Department also said continuing claims, a reading on the number of people receiving ongoing unemployment assistance, edged down by 5,000 to 1.874 million in the week ended December 7th.

The four-week moving average of continuing claims also slipped to 1,880,250, a decrease of 6,000 from the previous week's revised average of 1,886,250.

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