Jobless Claims Fall For Week

Initial jobless claims fell last week by 24,000 claims, to 467,000 for the week ended Saturday, the Labor Department said Thursday.

The figures show that the firings usually seen at employers in January may have come early this year, Bloomberg said.

Analysts had forecast that the claims would increase to 545,000 claims, Bloomberg reported.

The four-week moving average, a less volatile measure, fell to 525,750 from 552,750 a week earlier, Labor said.

Total jobless claims reached a new 26-year high, with the number of continuing claims surging to 4.6 million a week earlier — the most since 1982, Bloomberg said.