Jobless Claims Fall to Five-Year Low

Initial jobless claims decreased by 5,000 to 330,000 last week to the lowest level in five years, the Labor Department said Thursday.

Applications for jobless benefits for the week ended Saturday are at the lowest level since Jan. 19, 2008, Labor figures show.

The initial claims figure was lower than economists’ forecast of 355,000, Bloomberg News reported.

Continuing jobless claims for the previous week fell by 71,000 to 3.16 million.