18.06.202012:36:00UTC+00U.S. Weekly Jobless Claims Drop Much Less Than Expected

A report released by the Labor Department on Thursday showed a continued decrease in first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits in the week ended June 13th, although claims fell by much less than expected.

The Labor Department said initial jobless claims dropped to 1.508 million, a decrease of 58,000 from the previous week's upwardly revised level of 1.566 million.

Economists had expected jobless claims to tumble to 1.300 million from the 1.542 million originally reported for the previous week.

Jobless claims fell by much less than anticipated but still pulled back further off the record high of 6.867 million set in the week ended March 28th.