U.S. Weekly Jobless Claims Decrease To 224,000

(RTTNews) - 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.

Economists had expected jobless claims to slip to 225,000 from the 236,000 originally reported for the previous week.

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.