Initial Jobless Claims Fall, Continuing Claims Up

Washington, DC, Dec. 4, 2008--Initial jobless claims fell to a one-month low, the Labor Department said Thursday.

The number of workers filing for state unemployment benefits fell by 21,000 to a seasonally adjusted 509,000 for the week ending Nov. 29, the Labor Department reported.

It's the smallest number of initial jobless claims since the week ended Nov. 1. Claims have dropped for two straight weeks after hitting a 16-year high of 543,000.

Economists had expected claims to jump back up to 540,00.

The four-week moving average of new claims -- which smoothes out distortions caused by one-time events such as holidays and weather -- rose by 6,250 to 524,500, the highest in 16 years.

Also on the darker side of the data, the number of people continuing to collect unemployment benefits rose by 89,000 in the week ending Nov. 22 to a seasonally adjusted 4.09 million, also the highest figure in 16 years.