Washington: The number of Americans filing first-time unemployment claims fell by 9,000 last week to 215,000, according to Labor Department data released Thursday. This decrease marks a significant shift from the previous week's upwardly revised level of 224,000.

According to Anadolu Agency, the latest figures also came in below the market forecast of 225,000. The report highlighted a decrease in the four-week moving average to 220,750, which is down by 2,500 from the previous week's upwardly revised level of 223,250.

In a broader context, the US economy added 228,000 jobs in March, which exceeded forecasts of 137,000. However, the unemployment rate saw an unexpected rise to 4.2% in March, up from 4.1% the previous month.