WASHINGTON-- Initial jobless claims decreased to 451,000 for the week ending Sept. 4, the Labor Department reported today.
Continuing claims for the week ending Aug. 28 also fell to 4.478 million.
The figures came in below the expectations of economists, who projected 470,000 initial claims and 4.450 million continuing claims, according to the median estimate from Thomson Reuters.
The previous week's initial claims figure was revised higher to 478,000 from 472,000.
The four-week moving average of initial claims, a less volatile figure, decreased to 477,750 from a revised 487,000 the previous week, originally reported as 485,500.
The four-week average for continuing claims dropped to 4,488,000, down 3,250 from the previous week's revised average of 4,491,250, originally reported as 4,485,250.
