Jobless claims drop by 12,000

WASHINGTON, June 13 (UPI) -- The U.S. Labor Department said first-time jobless benefits claims dropped by 12,000 to 334,000 in the week that ended Saturday.

The department generally revises the previous week's estimate. This week the department left it alone at 346,000.

The four-week rolling average dropped by 7,250 from the previous week to 345,250.

The largest increases in initial claims for the week that ended June 1 were in Tennessee with a gain of 1,280, New York, which gained 1,001, and Oregon, which added 851.

The largest decreases were in California, where claims fell by 8,796, Florida with 3,250 fewer claims and Pennsylvania with 1,923 fewer claims.