Continuing Jobless Claims Decline for First Time in Five Months

Initial jobless claims dipped 4,000 last week, while the number of Americans collecting continuing jobless benefits fell for the first time in five months, the Labor Department said Thursday.

Claims for the week ended Saturday declined to 621,000, from a revised 625,000 the previous week, Labor said.

Economists had forecast a drop to 620,000, Bloomberg reported.

The four-week moving average, a less volatile measure, rose to 631,250 from 627,250 a week earlier.

The number of people collecting benefits fell for the first time in 18 weeks, ending the 17-week run of increases.