WASHINGTON - Initial jobless claims dropped to 407,000 for the week ending Nov. 20, the lowest level since the week ending July 19, 2008, the Labor Department reported Wednesday.
Continuing jobless claims fell for the fifth straight week to 4.182 million, the lowest level since the week ending Nov. 22, 2008.
Economists expected 435,000 initial jobless claims and 4.280 million continuing jobless claims, according to the median estimate from Thomson Reuters.
For the previous week, initial claims were revised to 441,000 while continuing claims were revised to 4.324 million.
The four-week moving average of initial claims, a less volatile figure, was 436,000 for the week ending Nov. 20, down from a revised 443,500. The four-week average for continuing claims fell to 4.309 million from a revised 4.361 million.
Eighteen states, led by California and Pennsylvania reported a decrease of more than 1,000 initial claims for the week ending Nov. 13 while only Indiana reported an increase in claims of more than 1,000 claims.
