WASHINGTON - Seasonally adjusted initial jobless claims fell to 391,000 for the week ending Feb. 19, a decrease of 22,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 413,000, the Labor Department reported Thursday.
Continuing claims dropped to 3.790 million for the week ending Feb. 12, the lowest since Oct. 18, 2008, when there were 3.764 million continuing claims. The 3.790 million figure showed a decrease of 145,000 from the preceding week's revised level of 3.935 million.
The figures were lower than the 400,000 of initial claims and 3.880 million of continuing claims projected by economists, according to the median estimate from Thomson Reuters.
The four-week moving average for initial claims was 402,000, the lowest level since July 26, 2008, when they were 398,750. The four-week moving average for continuing claims was 3.893 million, the lowest level since Nov. 1, 2008, when there were 3.820 million continuing claims.
For the week ending Feb. 12, nine states had decreases of more than 1,000 in unadjusted initial claims, with Pennsylvania showing the greatest decline of 5,174. Five states had increases of more than 1,000 with Missouri reporting the greatest gain of 2,332.
Three states did not report claims figures, but Labor provided estimates for them. They are Hawaii, Oklahoma, and Massachusetts. California provided an estimate since its actual figures were unavailable.
