A report released by the Labor Department on Thursday unexpectedly showed a slight drop by first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits in the week ended March 16th.
The Labor Department said initial jobless claims edged down to 210,000, a decrease of 2,000 from the previous week\'s revised level of 212,000.
The dip surprised economists, who had expected jobless claims to rise to 215,000 from the 209,000 originally reported for the previous week.
Meanwhile, the report said the less volatile four-week moving average crept up to 211,250, an increase of 2,500 from the previous week\'s revised average of 208,750.