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.

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.

At 10 am ET, the Commerce Department is scheduled to release its report on wholesale inventories in the month of June. Wholesale inventories are expected to rise by 0.2 percent.

The Treasury Department is due to announce the results of this month’s auction of $25 billion worth of thirty-year bonds.

At 3 pm ET, Richmond Federal Reserve President Thomas Barkin is scheduled to speak before a National Association for Business Economics webinar.