New US jobless claims fall to 6 year low

New claims for US unemployment insurance benefits fell last week to their lowest level in six years, a fresh sign of labor market tightening, the Labor Department said Thursday.

Initial jobless claims totaled 320,000 in the week ending August 10, compared to 335,000 the previous week.

The four-week moving average continued to push lower, to 332,000, compared to nearly 370,000 per week a year earlier.

The last time the weekly figure came in below that was on October 6, 2007, just before the country plunged into economic crisis and the deepest recession since the 1930s.