New unemployment claims in U.S. decline for first time in a month

Oct. 7 (UPI) -- The number of U.S. workers filing new unemployment claims per week has fallen to under 330,000 -- the first decline in four weeks, the Labor Department said in its weekly report Thursday.

The department said there were 326,000 new filings last week, a decline of almost 40,000 from the previous week.

Most analysts had expected the report to show about 345,000 new claims.

Thursday's report marked the first week-to-week decline in a month, after filings ticked up a bit during September.

The assessment also noted that the four-week moving average for first-time claims increased by about 3,500 filings.

The department also noted that continuing claims declined by almost 100,000, to 2.71 million. Continuing claims lack initial claims by a week.

The report said the largest increases in filings last week were seen in California, Michigan and Texas. The fewest increases were seen in Virginia, Maryland and Arizona.