2017.10.1908:35:00UTC+00U.S. Weekly Jobless Claims Drop Much More Than Expected

A report released by the Labor Department on Thursday showed first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits fell by much more than anticipated in the week ended October 14th.

The report said initial jobless claims dropped to 222,000, a decrease of 22,000 from the previous week's revised level of 244,000.

Economists had expected jobless claims to edge down to 240,000 from the 243,000 originally reported for the previous week.

With the much bigger than expected decrease, initial jobless claims fell to their lowest level since hitting a matching figure in March of 1973.