New U.S. unemployment claims fell to a lower than expected level in the final week of December, according to figures released Thursday by the Labor Department. For the week ended December 31st, the Labor Department reported new unemployment claims coming in at a seasonally adjusted level of 372,000, a drop of 15,000 from the previous week's revised figures. The previous week's level was, however, revised up to 387,000 from the 381,000 initially reported. Most economists had predicted a somewhat smaller drop in new claims for the week, forecasting a rate of 375,000.