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A day ahead of the release of the more closely watched monthly jobs report, the Labor Department released a report on Thursday showing first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits fell by much more than expected in the week ended February 1st.
The report said initial jobless claims slid to 202,000, a decrease of 15,000 from the previous week's revised level of 217,000.
Economists had expected jobless claims to edge down to 215,000 from the 216,000 originally reported for the previous week.
The Labor Department said the less volatile four-week moving average also slipped to 211,750, a decrease of 3,000 from the previous week's revised average of 214,750.
