First-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits fell by more than expected in the week ended December 19th, according to a report released by the Labor Department on Thursday.

The report said initial jobless claims dipped to 267,000, a decrease of 5,000 from the previous week’s revised level of 272,000.

Economists had expected jobless claims to edge down to 270,000 from the 271,000 originally reported for the previous week.

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