Washington DC, August 24, 2006-- First-time claims for unemployment benefits fell by 1,000 to 313,000 last week, the Labor Department said Thursday.
The four-week average of new claims rose by 3,500 to 315,250.
The number of people collecting benefits fell by 9,000 to 2.5 million, while the four-week average of continuing claims rose to 2.47 million.
