(fxcue news) - First-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits pulled back by more than expected in the week ended August 3rd, according to a report released by the Labor Department on Thursday. The report said initial jobless claims fell to 233,000, a decrease of 17,000 from the previous week's revised level of to 250,000. Economists had expected jobless claims to edge down to 240,000 from the 249,000 originally reported for the previous week. "Initial jobless claims fell more than expected in the week ended August 3, as the impacts of summer auto plant shutdowns and Hurricane Beryl continue to fade from the data. Claims continue to edge higher on a trend basis," said Nancy Vanden Houten, Lead U.S. Economist at Oxford Economics. The bigger than expected decline came a week after jobless claims reached their highest level since hitting 258,000 in the week ended August 5, 2023. Meanwhile, the Labor Department said the less volatile four-week moving average crept up to 240,750, an increase of 2,500 from the previous week's revised average of 238,250. Continuing claims, a reading on the number of people receiving ongoing unemployment assistance, also inched up by 6,000 to 1.875 million in the week ended July 27th, reaching the highest level since November 2021. The four-week moving average of continuing claims also edged up to 1,862,000, an increase of 7,000 from the previous week's revised average of 1,855,000. This is the highest level for this average since November 2021. Last Friday, the Labor Department released a more closely watched report showing employment in the U.S. increased by much less than expected in the month of July. The report said non-farm payroll employment climbed by 114,000 jobs in July after jumping by a downwardly revised 179,000 jobs in June. Economists had expected employment to rise by 175,000 jobs compared to the surge of 206,000 jobs originally reported for the previous month. The Labor Department also said the unemployment rate rose to 4.3 percent in July from 4.1 percent in June. Economists had expected the unemployment rate to remain unchanged. With the unexpected increase, the unemployment rate reached its highest level since hitting 4.5 percent in October 2021.