Jobless Claims Decline for Week

he number of Americans filing first-time unemployment claims fell by 40,000 last week as employees in Puerto Rico returned to work after a temporary government shutdown, the Labor Department said Thursday.

The claims level of 329,000 was above economists’ forecast of 315,000, Bloomberg reported.

The four-week moving average of claims, a less volatile measure, rose to 337,000 from 333,750 a week earlier.