Jobless Claims Decline by 22,000

Initial jobless claims fell by 22,000 for the week ended Saturday, the Labor Department said Thursday.

Jobless claims declined to 356,000 from a two-year high of 378,000 the week before, the department said in its weekly report.

The number of people continuing to collect benefits rose to 2.785 million for the previous week ended Jan. 26, from 2.71 million the previous week, Labor said.

The total number of Americans receiving unemployment benefits rose to the highest level since November 2005, Bloomberg reported.