First-time claims for U.S. unemployment insurance dropped by 12,000 during the week ending Sept. 12, the U.S. Department of Labor reported Thursday.
It was the second consecutive week of declines. In the week ending Sept. 5, claims dropped by 26,000.
The 545,000 initial benefits claims in the latest report contributed to a four-week rolling average of 563,000, which was an decrease of 8,750 from the previous week's rolling average of 571,750.
The U.S. unemployment rate remained unchanged at 9.7 percent.
