The number of U.S. initial claims for unemployment insurance fell by 12,000, or 2.3%, to 502,000 in the week ended Nov. 7 from the previous week's revised figure of 514,000, the U.S. Department of Labor reported today.

The four-week moving average of claims for the week ended Nov. 7 fell by 4,500, or 0.9%, to 519,750 from the previous week's revised average of 524,250.