Jobless Claims Fall for Week

Initial jobless claims fell by 4,000 last week, the Labor Department said Thursday.

The 339,000 new claims level was higher than economists’ forecasts of 320,000, Bloomberg reported.

The less-volatile four-week moving average rose to 328,750 from 323,500 the previous week.

The number of people continuing to collect benefits rose to 2.531 million for the previous week ended April 7, the highest in five weeks, from 2.525 million a week earlier, Labor reported.