Following last Friday’s much stronger than expected monthly jobs report, the Labor Department released a report on Thursday showing first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits fell by more than expected in the week ended February 3rd.
The report said initial jobless claims slipped to 218,000, a decrease of 9,000 from the previous week’s upwardly revised level of 227,000.
Economists had expected jobless claims to edge down to 220,000 from the 224,000 originally reported for the previous week.
Meanwhile, the Labor Department said the less volatile four-week moving average rose to 212,250, an increase of 3,750 from the previous week’s revised average of 208,500.
At 10 am ET, the Commerce Department is due to release its report on wholesale inventories in the month of December. Wholesale inventories are expected to rise by 0.4 percent.
Richmond Federal Reserve President Thomas Barkin is scheduled to speak before the Economic Club of New York at 11:30 am ET.
At 1 pm ET, the Treasury Department is due to announce the results of this month’s auction of $25 billion worth of thirty-year bonds.