The number of Americans who applied for jobless benefits fell by a larger than expected 20,000 last week, according to the Labor Department. First time claims for state unemployment insurance aid dropped to 314,000 from 334,000 two weeks ago, the government said. Analysts on Wall Street had predicted a drop of only 4,000. The Labor Department reported that no extraordinary factors contributed to the decline, which brought the overall number of new claims to their lowest level in two months. All other indicators of the U.S. job market indicate improvement, with overall unemployment declining too. 2.6 million Americans remain on the government's unemployment roster after drawing their first week of benefits.
