Initial Jobless Claims Fall for Week

Initial jobless claims fell by 23,000 last week, the Labor Department said Thursday.

Claims fell to 393,000 for the week ended Saturday from an upwardly revised 416,000, Labor said.

The initial claims figure was higher than economists’ forecast of 390,000, Bloomberg reported.

The four-week moving average, a less-volatile measure, rose to 405,250 last week from 397,750.

Continuing jobless claims for the week ended Nov. 17 dropped by 70,000 to 3.29 million.