Jobless Claims Drop to Three-Year Low

Initial jobless claims dropped by 19,000 last week to 366,000, the lowest level since May 2008, the Labor Department said Thursday.

Economists had forecast 390,000 new claims, Bloomberg reported.

The four-week moving average, a less volatile measure, decreased to 387,750, from 394,250 the previous week.

Continuing jobless claims for the previous week ended Dec. 3 edged up by 4,000 to 3.6 million.