The number of newly unemployed American workers filing claims for benefits has fallen to the lowest level in seven weeks, according to figures released by the U.S. Labor Department on Thursday.The department reported that new applications for unemployment benefits totaled 311,000 last week, a drop of 9,000 from the previous week. It marked the lowest level for jobless claims since July 28.The decline came as a surprise for economists who had been forecasting a rise in claims of around 6,000.The four-week average for claims also showed an improvement, falling to 320,750 from 324,250 the previous week.The labor market is being closely monitored over fears that a housing crisis and trouble in the financial markets will cause problems in the wider economy. Analysts believe the risks of a recession have risen significantly.On Tuesday, the Federal Reserve announced it would cut a key interest rate by a half point in response to the continuing economic troubles. It was the first reduction in the federal funds rate in more than four years and was double the quarter-point change many analysts had expected, the Associated Press reported.The rate cut occurred after a report earlier this month showed that businesses cut 4,000 jobs from their payrolls in August. It was the first monthly job loss in four years, led by sharp declines in manufacturing as well as construction, which has suffered from the worst downturn in housing in 16 years.For the week ending September 8, a total of 34 states and territories reported declines in the number of people filing jobless claims while 19 reported increases.
