The Labor Department released a report revealing that first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits decreased significantly in the week ended December 30th. The report indicated that initial jobless claims fell to 202,000, marking a decrease of 18,000 from the prior week’s revised level of 220,000. This exceeded economists’ expectations, who had anticipated jobless claims to modestly decrease to 216,000 from the originally reported 218,000 for the preceding week. According to the report, the four-week moving average, which is less susceptible to volatility, also fell to 207,750, a decrease of 4,750 from the prior week’s revised average of 212,500.