After reporting first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits climbed to a nearly four-year high in the previous week, the Labor Department released a report on Thursday showing initial jobless claims pulled back by more than expected in the week ended September 13th.
The Labor Department said initial jobless claims fell to 231,000, a decrease of 33,000 from the previous week's revised level of 264,000.
The bigger than expected decrease came a week after jobless claims reached their highest level since hitting 268,000 in the week ended October 23, 2021.
The report also said the less volatile four-week moving average edged down to 240,000, a decrease of 750 from the previous week's revised average of 240,750.
Continuing claims, a reading on the number of people receiving ongoing unemployment assistance, also slipped by 7,000 to 1.920 million in the week ended September 6th.
The four-week moving average of continuing claims also fell to 1,932,500, a decrease of 10,250 from the previous week's revised average of 1,942,750.