Initial jobless claims edge lower, continuing claims plunge again
More good news on the employment front: Initial jobless claims fell 12,000 to 502,000 for the week ending Nov. 7, and continuing claims continued to plunge, falling 139,000 to 5.63 million, the U.S. Labor Department announced Thursday.
A Bloomberg News survey had expected initial jobless claims to fall to 512,000 this week. Meanwhile, the four-week moving average for initial jobless claims decreased 4,500 to 519,750.
A year ago, initial jobless claims totaled 509,00 and continuing claims totaled 3.93 million.
