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Initial jobless claims fell by 19,000 to 318,000 last week, the Labor Department said Thursday.

The less-volatile four-week moving average rose to 325,750 claims, the highest since April.

The drop was greater than economists’ forecasts of a 2,000 decline in new claims, Bloomberg reported.

The number of people continuing to collect benefits rose to 2.572 million — the highest since January 2006 — for the previous week ended Aug. 18, from 2.566 million a week earlier, Labor said.