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July 28, 2011 8:45 AM, EDT

Initial jobless claims dropped last week by 24,000 to 398,000, the lowest level since April, the Labor Department said Thursday.

Economists had called for a rate of 415,000, Bloomberg reported.

The prior week’s claims, initially reported at 418,000, were revised to 422,000.

The four-week moving average, a less volatile measure, fell to 413,750, from 422,250.

Continuing jobless claims for the previous week ended July 16 dropped by 17,000 to 3.7 million, Labor said.

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