Jobless Claims Fall for Week

Initial jobless claims fell by 21,000 for the week ended Saturday to 301,000, the lowest level since September, the Labor Department said Thursday.

The less-volatile four-week moving average fell to a two-month low of 328,500, from 340,250, Labor said.
 
The weekly claims level was well below economists’ forecast of an increase to 331,000 claims, Bloomberg reported.

The number of people continuing to collect benefits rose to 2.751 million for the previous week ended Jan. 5, from 2.685 million.