The number of U.S. initial claims for unemployment insurance for the week ended Nov. 28 fell by 5,000, or 1.1% to 457,000 from the previous week's revised number of 462,000, the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. Bloomberg reported that economists had forecast the number would rise.

The four-week moving average of claims for the week ended Nov. 28 fell by 14,250, or 2.9%, to 481,250 from the previous week's revised average of 495,500.