U.S. Weekly Jobless Claims Unexpectedly Edge Lower

(RTTNews) - A day ahead of the release of the more closely watched monthly jobs report, the Labor Department released a report on Thursday unexpectedly showing a modest decrease by first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits in the week ended March 29th.

The report said initial jobless claims dipped to 219,000, a decrease of 6,000 from the previous week's revised level of 225,000.

Economists had expected initial jobless claims to inch up to 225,000 from the 224,000 originally reported for the previous month.

The Labor Department said the less volatile four-week moving average also edged down to 223,000, a decrease of 1,250 from the previous week's revised average of 224,250.