By Jeffry Bartash
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- First-time claims for unemployment benefits fell by 6,000 to 472,000 in the week ended Aug. 28, the federal government reported Thursday. The four-week average of initial claims -- a better gauge of employment trends than the volatile weekly number -- declined 2,500 to 485,500, according to data from the Labor Department. The number of jobless workers who continue to receive unemployment checks fell 23,000 to stand at 4.46 million in the week ended Aug. 21. Altogether, 9.7 million people were collecting some type of unemployment benefits in the week ended Aug. 7, down from 10.1 million on an unadjusted basis.
