Initial jobless claims decline

Fewer people signed up for jobless benefits last week, an encouraging sign that most businesses aren’t resorting to big layoffs amid a housing slump and the painful credit crunch.

The Labor Department reported that new applications filed for unemployment insurance fell by 2,000 to 322,000 for the week ended Saturday. It was the first drop in new claims in about a month.

The showing was a bit higher than the 320,000 that analysts had forecast. Still, the level of claims suggested that the employment climate remained in fairly good shape despite problems in housing and turmoil on Wall Street in recent weeks.