The number of people filing initial applications for U.S. state unemployment benefits fell last week from a seven-month high, the government reported Thursday, indicating continuing improvement in labor-market conditions. The Labor Department said jobless claims fell 10,000 to 307,000 last week, reversing most of the previous week's increase, which had pushed claims to their highest level since early June. Economists dismissed the rise as a statistical anomaly related to year-end holidays. The four-week moving average of jobless claims—considered a better measure of labor trends because it smoothes weekly volatility—increased 6,500 to 306,500. It was the first time since September that the measure has been above 300,000. Despite the rise in the four-week average, there is no doubt that the labor market is tightening, economists say. Employers have added at least 200,000 jobs in each of the last 11 months, the longest such period since 1994. Job openings are near 14-year highs, and the ratio of unemployed people for every job opening is the lowest since early 2008.
