Jobless Claims Decline to Lowest Level Since April

Initial jobless claims decreased by 5,000 last week to 388,000, the lowest level in seven months, the Labor Department said Thursday.

Economists had forecast 395,000 new claims, Bloomberg reported.

The four-week moving average, a less volatile measure, declined to 396,750, from 400,750 the previous week.

Continuing jobless claims for the previous week ended Nov. 5 fell by 57,000 to 3.61 million, the lowest since September 2008.