Jobless Claims Fall More Than Expected

ByJohn S. McClenahen Initial claims for unemployment insurance, a key measure of U.S. labor market conditions, fell by 19,000 last week to 332,000, the U.S. Labor Department reported on Nov. 4. Economists generally expected a decline, but to only about 340,000. The department's four-week moving average for jobless claims, which smoothes out week-to-week changes and is a better indicator of underlying labor market conditions, also fell last week. At 342,000, the average was 1,500 claims below the previous week's revised average of 343,500.