Jobless Claims Drop to Lowest Level in Six Years

Initial jobless claims dropped by 15,000 last week to the lowest level in almost six years, the Labor Department reported Thursday.

Claims for the week ended Saturday fell to 320,000, the fewest since October 2007, from a revised 335,000.

Economists had forecast 335,000 new claims, Bloomberg News reported.

The four-week moving average, a less volatile measure, fell 4,000, to 332,000.

Continuing jobless claims for the previous week ended Aug. 3 dropped by 54,000 to 2.97 million.