U.S. Weekly Jobless Claims Inch Up Less Than Expected

(RTTNews) - The Labor Department released a report on Thursday showing a slight uptick in first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits in the week ended January 17th.

The report said initial jobless claims crept up to 200,000, an increase of 1,000 from the previous week's revised level of 199,000.

Economists had expected jobless claims to rise to 205,000 from the 198,000 originally reported for the previous month.

Meanwhile, the Labor Department said the less volatile four-week moving average slipped to 201,500, a decrease of 3,750 from the previous week's revised average of 205,250.