Jobless Claims Fall by 25,000 to Seven-Month Low

November 17, 2005 8:45 AM, EST

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he number of U.S. workers filing initial unemployment benefits fell 25,000 to 303,000 last week, a seven-month low, the Labor Department reported Thursday.

The drop in claims for the week ended Nov. 12 led to a jobless level below the 324,000 forecast by economists, Bloomberg reported.

The four-week moving average of claims, a less volatile measure, fell to 321,500 from 335,000 a week earlier, Labor said.

The number of people filing continuing jobless claims rose slightly to 2.793 million for the previous week ended Nov. 5, from 2.79 million a week earlier, Labor said.