Jobless Claims Dip for Week

Initial jobless claims fell by 10,000 last week, the Labor Department said Thursday.

Claims for the week ended Saturday declined to 450,000, Labor said.

Economists had forecast claims would fall to 435,000, Bloomberg reported.

The four-week moving average, a less volatile measure, rose to 440,500, the highest in more than six years.

Continuing claims rose to 3.417 for the previous week ended Aug. 2, the biggest in almost five years, Labor said.