First-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits unexpectedly decreased in the week ended September 21st, according to a report released by the Labor Department on Thursday. The report said initial jobless claims fell to 305,000, a decrease of 5,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 310,000. The modest decrease came as a surprise to economists, who had expected jobless claims to climb to 325,000 from the 309,000 originally reported for the previous week.