Negative Jobless Number

The number of U.S. workers filing new claims for jobless benefits declined by 6,000 last week, according to the Labor Department.

Initial claims for state unemployment insurance benefits dropped to a seasonally adjusted 445,000 during the week ended Sept. 6 from a revised 451,000 in the prior week.

However,the number of continued claims -- people remaining on benefit rolls after drawing an initial week of aid -- shot up by 122,000 to 3.53 million in the week ended Aug. 30, the latest period for which the data is available. That was the highest reading since October 2003.

-EPJ Newsdesk