Initial Jobless Claims Fall to Lowest Level Since 2000

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he number of U.S. workers filing initial unemployment claims fell last week to the lowest level since April 2000, the Labor Department said Thursday.

Initial jobless claims fell 36,000 to 271,000, Labor said. That was in contrast to economists’ predictions of a rise to 315,000, Bloomberg reported.

The four-week moving average of claims, a less volatile measure, also fell to the lowest level in more than five years, Labor reported.

Continuing jobless claims for the previous week ended Jan. 7 fell to 2.534 million — the lowest level since February 2001 — from 2.692 million a week prior to that.