2012.10.1109:38:00UTC+00U.S. Weekly Jobless Claims Unexpectedly Show Steep Drop

First-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits unexpectedly showed a notable decrease in the week ended October 6th, according to a report released by the Labor Department on Thursday, with jobless claims falling to a four-year low.

The report said initial jobless claims tumbled to 339,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 369,000. The drop surprised economists, who had expected jobless claims to edge up to 370,000 from the 367,000 originally reported for the previous month.

With the unexpected decrease, jobless claims fell to the lowest level since a matching number in the week ended February 16th, 2008.