Investing.com - The number of people who filed for unemployment assistance in the U.S. last week unexpectedly fell.
Initial jobless claims dropped by 13,000 to 253,000 the Labor Department said.
Economists had expected claims to rise by 3,000 to 270,000 last week.
Claims have now remained below the 300,000 mark, which is associated with strong labor market conditions, for 58 weeks.