Initial Jobless Claims Drop for Week

Initial jobless claims decreased last week by 26,000, the Labor Department said Thursday.

Claims decreased to 359,000 for the week ended Saturday, the lowest since July, Labor said.

The initial claims figure was lower than economists’ forecasts of 375,000, Bloomberg reported.

The four-week moving average, a less-volatile measure, dropped to 374,000 last week, from 378,500.

Continuing jobless claims for the previous week ended Sept. 15 declined by 4,000, to 3.27 million.

Labor initially reported the prior week’s jobless claims at 382,000.