Initial Jobless Claims See Biggest Drop Since 2002

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Initial Jobless Claims See Biggest Drop Since 2002
Washington, DC, July 21--First-time filings for state unemployment benefits dropped by 34,000 to a seasonally adjusted 303,000 last week, the lowest level in three months and largest decline since December 2002, according to a Labor Department report. Economists were expecting claims to fall to about 325,000. The four-week average of new claims - which smoothes out one-time events that can distort the weekly figures - dropped by 3,250 to a four-month low of 318,000. The number of people receiving unemployment checks fell by 41,000 to 2.577 million in the week ending July 9.