U.S. Weekly Jobless Claims Unexpectedly Drop To 207,000

A report released by the Labor Department on Thursday showed an unexpected decrease in first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits in the week ended July 14th.

The Labor Department said initial jobless claims fell to 207,000, a decrease of 8,000 from the previous week's revised level of 215,000.

Economists had expected jobless claims to inch up to 220,000 from the 214,000 originally reported for the previous week.

With the unexpected decrease, jobless claims dropped to their lowest level since hitting 202,000 in December of 1969.