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Initial jobless claims decreased by 9,000 last week to 423,000, the Labor Department said Thursday.

Economists had forecast a decline to 420,000, Bloomberg reported.

The four-week moving average, a less volatile measure, edged up to 421,000, from 420,500.

Continuing jobless claims for the previous week ended Sept. 10 declined by 28,000 to 3.73 million, Labor said.