WASHINGTON – Initial jobless claims fell 11,000 to 448,000 in the week ending April 24, the second straight weekly decline and lowest number of claims in four weeks, the Labor Department reported today.
Continuing claims declined to 4.645 million in the week ending April 17. Continuing claims have fallen in three of the last four weeks.
Economists expected 445,000 initial claims and 4.610 million continuing claims, according to the median estimate from Thomson Reuters.
Initial claims for the week ending April 17 were revised higher to 459,000. Continuing claims were revised higher to 4.663 million for the week ending April 10.
The four-week moving average of initial claims, a less volatile figure, increased to 462,500 from 461,000 last week. The four-week average for continuing claims dropped to 4.639 million. The average for continuing claims has fallen for 32 consecutive weeks and is at the lowest level since January 2009.
Initial claims this year dropped to a low of 442,000 for the week of March 27 and hit a high of 490,000 for the week of Jan. 30. Initial claims have fallen from a high of 651,000 claims set in March 2009 amid the worst stretch of the current recession.
Initial claims in the U.S. Virgin Islands were estimated for last week, a Labor Department official said. Sixteen states reported a drop of more than 1,000 initial claims in the week ending April 17. Three states reported increased of more than 1,000 initial claims.
