The number of U.S. initial claims for unemployment insurance for the week ended Nov. 21 fell by 35,000, or 7.0%, to 466,000 from the previous week's revised number of 501,000, the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. The number of claims was at its lowest level since September 2008, Bloomberg reported.

The four-week moving average of claims for the week ended Nov. 21 fell by 16,500, or 3.2%, to 496,500 from the previous week's revised average of 513,000.