Investing.com - The number of people who filed for unemployment assistance in the U.S. unexpectedly decreased last week, bolstering optimism over the already solid American labor market, official data showed on Thursday.
In a report, the U.S. Department of Labor said the number of individuals filing for initial jobless benefits in the week ending January 27 decreased by 1,000 to a seasonally adjusted 230,000.
Analysts had expected jobless claims to rise to 238,000 last week.
The previous week’s total was revised down to 231,000, from the initial 233,000.
First-time jobless claims below the 300,000-level are usually associated with a firming labor market.
Meanwhile, continuing jobless claims in the week ended January 20 advanced to 1.953 million.
Analysts had expected continuing claims to decrease to 1.928 million.
In the preceding week they settled at 1.940 million, revised up from an initial reading of 1.937 million.
The four-week moving average declined 5,000 to 234,500.
The previous week's reading was revised lower to 239,500 from the initial 240,000.
The monthly average is seen as a more accurate gauge of labor trends because it reduces volatility in the week-to-week data.