With an increase in prices for goods offset by a decrease in prices for services, the Labor Department released a report on Thursday showing producer prices in the U.S. were unexpectedly flat in the month of February.

The Labor Department said its producer price index for final demand was unchanged in February after climbing by an upwardly revised 0.6 percent in January.

Economists had expected producer prices to rise by 0.3 percent compared to the 0.4 percent growth originally reported for the previous month.

The report also said the annual rate of growth by producer prices slowed to 3.2 percent in February from an upwardly revised 3.7 percent in January.

The annual rate of producer price growth was expected to dip to 3.3 percent from the 3.5 percent originally reported for the previous month.

A separate report released by the Labor Department on Thursday unexpectedly showed a modest decrease by first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits in the week ended March 8th.

The Labor Department said initial jobless claims edged down to 220,000, a decrease of 2,000 from the previous week’s revised level of 222,000.

The dip surprised economists, who had expected jobless claims to inch up to 225,000 from the 221,000 originally reported for the previous week.

Meanwhile, the report said the less volatile four-week moving average crept up to 226,000, an increase of 1,500 from the previous week’s revised average of 224,500.

At 11 am ET, the Treasury Department is scheduled to announce the details of this month’s auction of twenty-year bonds.

The Treasury Department is also due to announce the results of this month’s auction of $22 billion worth of thirty-year bonds at 1 pm ET.