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March 17, 2005 8:30 AM, EST

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he number of Americans filing initial applications for unemployment insurance fell by 10,000 to 318,000 for the week ended March 12, the Labor Department reported Thursday.

The fall was the fifth in the previous seven weeks and was more than analysts had expected, Bloomberg reported.

The four-week moving average of claims, a less volatile measure, rose to 316,500 from 312,750, Labor said.

The number of people continuing to collect state jobless benefits fell to 2.647 million in the week ended March 5, the lowest in two months, from 2.695 million a week earlier. The four-week average of continuing claims fell to 2.683 million.