Jobless Claims Fall for Week

Initial jobless claims fell by 16,000 last week, while continuing claims reached a five-year high, the Labor Department said Thursday.

Claims fell to 461,000 for the week ended Saturday, below forecasts of 470,000 claims, Bloomberg reported.

The four-week moving average, a less volatile measure, rose to 483,250, the highest since 2001, from 482,000.

The number of continuing claims rose to 3.711 million for the previous week ended Oct. 4, the highest in more than five years, from 3.671 million the prior week.