New Jobless Claims Fall for Second Week

New claims for U.S. unemployment benefits fell for the second week but remained at a high level, the Labor Department said.

First-time jobless claims fell to 410,000 from a revised 422,000 the previous week. But in an indication that more unemployed are remaining jobless, the number of people who already had qualified for a week of benefits rose to 3.89 million.

The four-week moving average, considered a more reliable barometer of the job market, fell for the fifth week, to 418,500.