Initial Jobless Claims Fall 20,000 for Week

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he number of workers filing initial unemployment claims fell by 20,000 last week to 278,000 last week, the Labor Department reported Thursday.

That was below economists’ predictions of a rise to 300,000 claims from a previously reported 297,000, Bloomberg reported.

The four-week moving average of claims, a less volatile measure, fell to 281,750, from 283,250.

ontinuing jobless claims for the previous week ended Feb. 11 rose by 41,000 to 2.495 million in the week prior to that.