Jobless Benefit Claims Drop; Level Still High

New claims for unemployment benefits declined sharply last week but still remained at a high level, reflecting fallout from the ailing economy and last month’s terrorist attacks.

The closely watched four-week moving average of jobless claims hit a level unseen in a decade, the Labor Department report showed.

The number of Americans filing for initial jobless benefit claims fell by a seasonally adjusted 67,000 to 468,000 in the week ended Saturday, a level economists say reflects a weak jobs market. A government analyst cautioned not to read too much into the decline and suggested that seasonal adjustment was a factor.

The decline also followed two weeks of increases that pushed jobless claims to a nine-year high.

The more stable four-week moving average rose to 463,000, the highest level since Dec. 14, 1991, when the country was mired in its last recession.

The number of workers remaining on the unemployment rolls hit its highest level in more than 10 years. These so-called continued claims rose by 98,000 to a seasonally adjusted 3.48 million for the week ended Sept. 29, the most recent week for which the data were available. That was the highest level since June 1, 1991, when they reached 3.55 million, the department said.