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July 12, 2012 8:45 AM, EDT

Initial jobless claims dropped last week to the lowest level in four years, the Labor Department said Thursday.ÌýÌý

Claims decreased by 26,000 to 350,000 for the week ended Saturday, Labor said, the fewest since March 2008.

The initial claims figure was lower than economists’ forecasts of 372,000, Bloomberg reported.

The four-week moving average, a less-volatile measure, fell to 376,500 last week from 386,250.

Continuing jobless claims for the previous week ended June 30 declined by 14,000, to 3.30 million.