Unemployment claims fell more sharply than expected last week in the United States, to 211,000 compared to 222,000 (revised figure) the previous week, the Labor Department announced Thursday.
Economists expected an average of 215,000 unemployment registrations during the week ending April 6.
Registrations for the week to March 30 were revised slightly higher from an initial estimate of 221,000.
The four-week moving average stands at 214,250 compared to 214,500 (revised) the previous week.
The number of people regularly receiving compensation rose to 1.817 million in the week ending March 30 (last week for which these figures are available) compared to 1.789 million (revised) the previous week.
(Written by Corentin Chappron)