The number of U.S. initial claims for unemployment insurance for the week ended Dec. 26 fell by 22,000, or 4.9%, to 432,000 from the previous week's revised number of 454,000, the U.S. Department of Labor reported Thursday.

The four-week moving average of claims for the week ended Dec. 26 fell by 5,500, or 1.2%, to 460,250 from the previous week's revised average of 465,750.