Initial Jobless Claims Drop

Initial jobless claims dropped by 6,000 last week, the Labor Department said Thursday.

Claims decreased to 361,000 for the week ended Saturday, economists had called for an increase to 370,000, Bloomberg reported.

The four-week moving average, a less-volatile measure, rose to 368,250, from 366,000.

Continuing jobless claims for the previous week ended July 28 climbed by 53,000, to 3.33 million.