U.S. jobless claims drop 16,000 to 414,000 (by Jeffry Bartash)

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) - The number of U.S. workers who filed new applications for unemployment benefits fell by 16,000 last week to a seasonally adjusted 414,000, the Labor Department said Thursday. Initial claims from two weeks ago were revised up to 430,000 from an originally reported 427,000. Economists surveyed by MarketWatch had expected initial claims to edge down to 425,000 in the week ended June 11. The average of new claims over the past four weeks was unchanged at 424,750. The monthly average is considered a more accurate measure of employment trends because it smooths out week-to-week volatility in the data. The number of people who continued to receive unemployment checks dropped 21,000 to a seasonally adjusted 3.68 million in the week ended June 4. Continuing claims are reported with a one-week lag. A total of 7.4 million people received some kind of state or federal benefit in the week of May 28, down 209,116 from the prior week. Total claims are reported with a two-week lag.