Jobless Claims Fall in Latest Week

The number of U.S. workers filing new claims for unemployment insurance dipped to a five-month low, suggesting the worst of the layoffs seen after the terrorist attacks may be over.

For the workweek ended Dec. 15, new claims for jobless benefits dipped by a seasonally adjusted 11,000 to 384,000. It marked the third straight weekly decline and pushed claims to their lowest level since July 28, the Labor Department said. Jobless claims have fallen in seven of the last eight weeks.

The more stable four-week moving average of claims, which smoothes out week-to-week fluctuations, also declined last week to 438,000.

Economists were encouraged by the declines, saying they may signal that the level of layoffs, which rocketed after the Sept. 11 attacks to a nine-year high, is stabilizing.