Jobless Claims Fall for Week

Initial jobless claims fell by 12,000 last week to 308,000, the Labor Department said Thursday.

Economists had forecast a decline to 315,000 from an initially reported 318,000 the previous week, Bloomberg reported.

The less-volatile four-week moving average fell to 317,750 claims from 319,250.

The number of people continuing to collect benefits fell to 2.554 million for the previous week ended June 30, from 2.558 million a week earlier, Labor reported.