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Initial jobless claims dropped by 19,000 last week to 366,000, the lowest levelÌýsince May 2008, the Labor Department said Thursday.

Economists had forecast 390,000 new claims, Bloomberg reported.

The four-week moving average, a less volatile measure, decreased to 387,750, from 394,250 the previous week.

Continuing jobless claims for the previous week ended Dec. 3 edged up by 4,000 to 3.6 million.