Initial Jobless Claims Fall for Week

Initial jobless claims decreased by 23,000 last week, the Labor Department said Thursday.

Claims decreased to 369,000 for the week ended Saturday from a revised 392,000, Labor said. The department initially reported the prior week’s jobless claims at 388,000.

The initial claims figure was lower than economists’ forecasts of 370,000, Bloomberg reported.

The four-week moving average, a less-volatile measure, rose to 368,000 last week from 366,500.

Continuing jobless claims for the previous week ended Oct. 13 dropped by 2,000 to 3.25 million.