New jobless claims fall back
Labor Department says the number of people filing an initial claim for benefits retreat after spike above 400,000.
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- New filings for unemployment claims retreated last week after a one-week spike, according to a government report released Thursday.
The Labor Department said applications for unemployment benefits fell to 357,000 in the week ended April 5, down from a revised 410,000 claims in the previous week.
Economists had expected initial jobless claims to fall to 383,000 from the originally reported 407,000, according to a consensus estimate gathered by Briefing.com.
The drop in initial jobless claims comes after the previous week's report showed claims at the highest level since Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast.
But that number was skewed by the early arrival of the Easter holiday during that week, according to Sam Bullard, an economist at Wachovia.
Thursday's report "brings us back in line with what's really going on out there," he said.
The four-week moving average of new jobless claims rose 2,500 to 378,250 versus the prior week's revised average of 375,750.
The report follows last week's monthly employment report that showed a net loss of 80,000 jobs in March, the third consecutive month of shrinking payrolls. 
