First-time jobless claims drop by 9,000

WASHINGTON, Nov. 1 (UPI) -- The U.S. Labor Department Thursday said first-time jobless benefits claims dropped by 9,000 in the week ending Saturday.

Initial claims fell to 363,000, the department said. The four-week rolling average fell by 1,500 to 367,250.

The advance number of unadjusted actual first-time jobless benefits claims under state programs totaled 339,750 for the week, a decrease of 5,476 from the previous week, the Labor Department said.

There were 369,647 initial benefits claims in the comparable week in 2011, the department's Employment and Training Administration said.