Investing.com -- The number of Americans filing for first-time unemployment benefits fell by more than anticipated last week.
Initial jobless claims in the U.S. dropped to 215,000 in the week ended on May 18, down from an upwardly revised total of 223,000 in the prior week. Economists had seen the figure at 220,000.
The four-week moving average, which attempts to account for variances in the weekly figure, edged down to 219,750 from 218,000.