A report released by the Labor Department on Thursday showed first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits fell by much more than anticipated in the week ended October 14th, with claims sliding to their lowest level in over forty years.

The report said initial jobless claims dropped to 222,000, a decrease of 22,000 from the previous week's revised level of 244,000.

Economists had expected jobless claims to edge down to 240,000 from the 243,000 originally reported for the previous week.

With the much bigger than expected decrease, initial jobless claims fell to their lowest level since hitting a matching figure in March of 1973.

The Labor Department noted claims taking procedures continue to be severely disrupted in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands as a result of power outages and infrastructure damage caused by Hurricanes Irma and Maria.

The report said the less volatile four-week moving average fell to 248,250, a decrease of 9,500 from the previous week's revised average of 257,750.

Continuing claims, a reading on the number of people receiving ongoing unemployment assistance, also declined by 16,000 to 1.888 million in the week ended October 7th.

The four-week moving average of continuing claims tumbled to a 43-year low of 1,906,000, a decrease of 22,750 from the previous week's revised average of 1,928,750.

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