U.S. jobless claims fell 34,000 last week

WASHINGTON, Dec 7 (Reuters) - The number of U.S. workers seeking first-time jobless claims plunged last week, as expected, after surging the prior week during the start of the holiday season, a government report showed on Thursday.

First-time initial claims fell by 34,000 to a seasonally adjusted 324,000 in the week ended Dec. 2, down from a revised 358,000 in the previous week, the Labor Department said.

The decline was in line with Wall Street economists who had forecast they would fall to 325,000 from the originally reported 357,000 for the week ended Nov. 25.

The weekly report is typically volatile during this time of year, a Labor Department official said, adding that there were no special factors leading to the decline.

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WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) - The number of new filings for state unemployment benefits declined sharply in the latest week, reversing a large increase in the previous week, the Labor Department said Thursday. Initial jobless claims fell by 34,000 to 324,000 in the week ended Dec. 2. The drop was in line with economists forecasts. Claims rose a revised 35,000 to 358,000 in the previous week, compared with the initial estimate of a rise of 34,000 to 357,000. This was the highest level of claims in over a year. The volatility in claims is typical around holidays, a Labor Department official said. The four-week average of initial claims, which smoothes out weekly noise and distortions in the data, rose 3,500 to 328,750. This is the highest level since May. The number of people collecting state unemployment benefits over the past four weeks rose by 57,000 to 2.52 million in the week ended Nov. 25. This is the highest level since January.