First-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits unexpectedly dipped in the week ended December 27th, according to a report released by the Labor Department on Wednesday.
The report said initial jobless claims fell to 199,000, a decrease of 16,000 from the previous week’s revised level of 215,000.
Economists had expected jobless claims to rise to 220,000 from the 214,000 originally reported for the previous week.
Meanwhile, the Labor Department said the less volatile four-week moving average inched up to 218,750, an increase of 1,750 from the previous week’s revised average of 217,000.
At 10:30 am ET, the Energy Information Administration is scheduled to release its report on oil inventories in the week ended December 26th.
Crude oil inventories are expected to decrease by 2.0 million barrels after inching up by 0.4 million barrels in the previous week.