The data from
the Labour Department showed on
Thursday the number of applications for unemployment unexpectedly plunged last week.
According to
the report, the initial claims for unemployment benefits declined by 12,000 to 219,000 for the week ended September 14. This marked the lowest weekly total since
the week ended May 18 (216,000).
Economists had forecast
230,000 new claims last week.
Claims for the prior week were revised upwardly to 231,000
from the original estimate of 230,000.
Meanwhile, the
four-week moving average of jobless claims decreased to 227,500 from an upwardly revised 231,000 (from 230,750)
in the previous week. This represented the
lowest count since the week ended June 8 (227,250).
As for
continuing claims, they dropped to 1,829,000,
compared to a downwardly revised 1,843,000
(from 1,850,000) in the previous week. This was the lowest reading in 14 weeks. Economists had predicted continuing jobless claims of 1,850,000.