Investing.com - The number of people who filed for unemployment assistance in the U.S. fell by 8,000 last week to a seasonally adjusted 196,000, the U.S. Department of Labor said.
It was the lowest level since Oct. 4 1969, when claims totaled 193,000.
Economists had expected weekly jobless claims to rise to 211,000 from the previous week’s upwardly revised total of 204,000.
The four-week moving average was 207,000, a decline of 7,000 from the previous week. The monthly average is seen as a more accurate gauge of labor trends because it reduces volatility in the week-to-week data.
That was the lowest level since Dec. 6, 1969.
Continuing jobless claims declined to 1.713 million from 1.726 million in the preceding week, compared to expectations for an increase to 1.738 million.