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Following two straight weekly increases in first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits, the Labor Department released a report on Thursday showing initial jobless claims pulled back by much more than expected in the week ended August 1st.
The report said initial jobless claims tumbled to 1.186 million, a decrease of 249,000 from the previous week's revised level of 1.435 million.
Economists had expected jobless claims to edge down to 1.415 million from the 1.434 million originally reported for the previous week.
The Labor Department said the less volatile four-week moving average also fell to 1,337,750, a decrease of 31,000 from the previous week's revised average of 1,368,750.
