Initial Jobless Claims Fall for Week

Initial jobless claims fell by 22,000 last week, the Labor Department said Thursday.

Applications for jobless benefits for the week ended Saturday fell to 344,000, Labor said.

The initial claims figure was lower than economists’ forecast of 360,000, Bloomberg News reported.

The four-week moving average, a less volatile measure, fell to 355,000 last week from 361,750.

Continuing jobless claims for the previous week ended Feb. 16 fell by 91,000 to 3.07 million.