Jobless Claims Fall to Lowest in More than Three Years

Initial jobless claims fell last week to the lowest level since April 2008, the Labor Department said Thursday.

Claims fell by 4,000 for the week ended Saturday, to 364,000, Labor said.

Economists had forecast 380,000 new claims, Bloomberg reported.

The four-week moving average, a less volatile measure, decreased to 380,250, from 388,250 the previous week.

Continuing jobless claims for the previous week ended Dec. 10 fell by 79,000 to 3.55 million, the lowest since September 2008.