Washington: The number of Americans filing first-time unemployment claims decreased by 12,000 last week, reaching a total of 216,000, as reported by Labor Department data released on Thursday. This figure was lower than the anticipated 229,000, with the previous week's numbers being adjusted upwards by 1,000 from 227,000 to 228,000. According to Anadolu Agency, the four-week moving average fell to 236,500, marking a reduction of 2,250 from the prior week's revised average. In addition, the US economy saw an increase of 254,000 jobs in September, which is an improvement from the revised 159,000 jobs added in August. The unemployment rate also experienced a decline, moving from 4.2% to 4.1%.