June 16, 2011 9:00 AM, EDT

Jobless Claims Drop by 16,000

Initial jobless declined by 16,000 to 414,000 last week, the Labor Department said Thursday.

Economists had forecast the rate to drop to 420,000, Bloomberg reported.

The four-week moving average, a less volatile measure, held at to 424,750.

Continuing jobless claims for the previous week ended June 4 fell by 21,000 to 3.68 million, Labor said.