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Initial jobless claims dropped last week, the Labor Department said Thursday.

Claims decreased 35,000 to 353,000 for the week ended Saturday, Labor said.

Economists had forecast 380,000 claims, Bloomberg reported.

The four-week moving average, a less-volatile measure, slipped to 367,250, from 376,000.

Continuing jobless claims for the previous week ended July 14 shrank by 30,000, to 3.29 million.