Seasonally adjusted initial claims for U.S. unemployment benefits fell to 210,000 in the week that ended Oct. 13 from the previous week's revised level of 215,000, according to the U.S. Labor Department.

The Econoday consensus forecast for jobless claims was 215,000.

The four-week moving average rose to 211,750 from the previous week's revised average of 209,750.

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate remained unchanged at 1.2% in the week that ended Oct. 6 from the prior week. Insured unemployment during the week fell to 1,640,000 — the lowest level since Aug. 4, 1973 — from the previous week's revised level of 1,653,000.