U.S. jobless claims lower than expected

Labor Department says applications for unemployment benefits this week were down by 9,000 from last week, a larger decrease than analysts expected.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The number of newly laid off workers filing claims for unemployment benefits fell last week by a larger-than-expected amount.

The Labor Department reported Thursday that applications for jobless benefits totaled 348,000 last week, down by 9,000 from the previous week.

Analysts had been expecting a slightly smaller decrease of around 6,000.

The four-week average for claims, which smoothes out the weekly volatility, rose by 3,500 to 347,250, the highest level for this number since October 2005