Initial Jobless Claims Fall by 5,000 for Week

Initial jobless claims fell by 5,000 last week, the Labor Department reported Wednesday.

Applications for jobless benefits for the week ended Saturday declined to 343,000 from a revised 348,000 the previous week that was higher than originally reported, Labor said.

Economists had forecast 345,000 new claims, Bloomberg News reported.

The four-week moving average, a less volatile measure, fell to 345,500, from 346,250.

Continuing jobless claims for the previous week ended June 22 was little changed at 2.93 million.

Labor released the data one day early due to the Independence Day holiday.