India, Oct. 22 -- First-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits unexpectedly declined in the week ended October 17th, according to a report released by the Labor Department on Thursday.

The report said initial jobless claims fell to 194,000, a decrease of 6,000 from the previous week's revised level of 200,000.

Economists had expected jobless claims to inch up to 200,000 from the 199,000 originally reported for the previous week.

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