The Labor Department released a report on Thursday unexpectedly showing a modest decrease by first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits in the week ended November 16th.

The report said initial jobless claims slipped to 213,000, a decrease of 6,000 from the previous week’s revised level of 219,000.

Economists had expected jobless claims to inch up to 220,000 from the 217,000 originally reported for the previous week.

With the unexpected dip, jobless claims fell to their lowest level since hitting 209,000 in the week ended April 27th.

The Labor Department said the less volatile four-week moving average also edged down to 217,750, a decrease of 3,750 from the previous week’s revised average of 221,500.

A separate report released by the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia on Thursday said regional manufacturing activity softened overall in the month of November.

The Philly Fed said its diffusion index for current general activity tumbled to a negative 5.5 in November from a positive 10.3 in October, with a negative reading indicating contraction. Economists had expected the index to edge down to a positive 8.0.

However, the Philly Fed said firms continue to expect growth over the next six months, with growth expectations more widespread this month.

At 10 am ET, the National Association of Realtors is scheduled to release its report on existing home sales in the month of October. Existing home sales are expected to increase to an annual rate of 3.93 million in October after falling to a rate of 3.84 million in September.

The Conference Board is also due to release its report on leading economic indicators in the month of October at 10 am ET. The leading economic index is expected to dip by 0.3 percent in October after declining by 0.5 percent in September.

At 11 am ET, the Treasury Department is scheduled to announce the details of this month’s auctions of two-year, five-year and seven-year notes.

Chicago Federal Reserve President Austan Goolsbee is due to participate in a moderated question-and-answer session before the Central Indiana Corporate Partnership at 12:25 pm ET.

At 12:30 pm ET, Kansas City Federal Reserve President Jeffrey Schmid is scheduled to speak on Longer-term Considerations for Growth and Monetary Policy.

Cleveland Federal Reserve President Beth Hammack is also due to participate in a conversation before the 2024 Financial Stability Conference: Emerging Risks in a Time of Interconnectedness and Innovation at 12:30 pm ET.

At 4:40 pm ET, Federal Reserve Vice Chair for Supervision Michael Barr is scheduled to participate in a “Banks and Artificial Intelligence” discussion before the 2024 FinRegLab AI Symposium.