Initial Jobless Claims Fall by 22,000 for Week

Initial jobless claims dropped by 22,000 to 405,000 last week, the lowest level since mid-April, the Labor Department said Thursday.

Economists had called for a rate of 415,000, Bloomberg reported.

The prior week’s claims were initially reported at 418,000.

The four-week moving average, a less volatile measure, fell to 423,250, from 427,000.

Continuing jobless claims for the previous week ended July 2 rose by 15,000 to 3.73 million, Labor said.