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Initial jobless claims declined by 6,000 last week, the second straight decline after a month of increases, the Labor Department said Thursday.

The decline to 472,000 for the week ended Saturday matched economists’ forecasts for new claims, Bloomberg reported.

The four-week moving average, a less volatile measure, decreased to 485,500, from 488,000 the prior week.

Continuing claims for the previous week ended Aug. 21 fell by 23,000 to 4.46 million.