New Jobless Claims Decline for Week

Initial jobless claims fell by 27,000 last week, the third straight decline following a month of increases, the Labor Department said Thursday.

The decline to 451,000 new claims for the week ended Saturday was below economists’ forecasts for of 470,000, Bloomberg reported.

Nine states did not file their claims due to the Labor Day holiday this week. As a result, California and Virginia estimated their figures, while the federal government estimated the other seven, Bloomberg said.

The four-week moving average, a less volatile measure, decreased to 477,750, from 487,000 the week before

Continuing claims for the previous week ended Aug. 28 dipped by 2,000 to 4.48 million from a week earlier.