Jobless Claims Down, Better Than Expected

Washington, DC, September 20, 2007—Jobless claims were off 9,000 to 311,000 in the week ended September 15, according to a Labor Department report.

The four-week moving average dropped to 320,750 from 324,250.

Economists were expecting a rise in claims to 321,000 after a level of 319,000 reported in the prior week.

The number of people continuing to collect state unemployment benefits fell to 2.544 million in the week ended September 8, the fewest since the week ended July 21, from 2.597 million. The drop was the biggest since May.