US Jobless claims fell 4,000 last week

The number of U.S. workers filing new claims for jobless benefits fell by 4,000 last week to 481,000, according to a Labor Department report on Thursday that still showed the job market under severe strain.

The department revised up its estimate for jobless claims in the prior week to 485,000 from a previously reported 479,000. A department official said there were no special factors influencing the report and noted that the impact seen in prior weeks from hurricanes that displaced some workers had now worn off.

The jobless claims total last week was in line with Wall Street economists' forecasts for 480,000.

A four-week moving average of claims, which smoothes out weekly variations, was unchanged at 477,000 last week.

In a sign of the toll that months of job losses have taken, the department said that continuing claims for unemployment benefits climbed by 122,000 in the week ended October 25, the latest period for which the data is available, to 3.84 million.

That was the highest level for continuing claims since February 1983.