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October 27, 2005 8:30 AM, EDT

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he number of U.S. workers filing initial unemployment benefits fell by 28,000 to 328,000 last week, the Labor Department said Thursday.

The decline for the week ended Oct. 22 was greater than predicted, as economists had expected 340,000 total claims, Bloomberg reported.

The four-week moving average of claims, a less volatile measure, fell to 366,500 from 376,500 a week earlier, Labor said.

The number of people filing continuing jobless claims rose to 2.904 million for the previous week ended Oct. 15, from 2.862 million a week earlier, Labor said.