A new report from the Labor Department released Thursday shows a drop in the number of new unemployment claims last week. According to the report, claims dropped by 23,000 to 369,000. Last weeks numbers were revised up by 4,000. The four-week average, considered a more accurate measure, rose by 1,500 to 368,000. Analysts that anything under 400,000 is an indication that the economy is likely to create jobs faster than it sheds them. The unemployment rate fell last month to 7.8%.
See "Jobless Claims Fall", Reuters, The New York Times, October 24, 2012