Jobless Claims Fall 2,000 for Week

Initial jobless claims fell by 2,000 to 322,000 last week, the Labor Department reported Thursday.

The less-volatile four-week moving average rose to 317,750 claims, from 313,000.

The drop matched economists’ outlook, Bloomberg reported.

The number of people continuing to collect benefits rose to 2.572 million — the highest since mid-April — for the previous week ended Aug. 11, from 2.556 million a week earlier, Labor said.