Jobless Claims Fall For Fourth Straight Week

Washington, DC, January 24, 2008--Claims for unemployment benefits fell for a fourth straight week, a sign that the job market is holding up in a sea of otherwise bad economic news.

The Labor Department reported Thursday that applications for unemployment benefits dropped by 1,000 to 301,000 last week, contrary to analyst expectations.

Claims fell to the lowest level in four months after December’s increase in the unemployment rate to 5 percent.