WASHINGTON (AFP) - New claims for US unemployment benefits fell 8.4 percent last week to a six-month low, official data showed Thursday, suggesting some improvement in the troubled job market.

The Labor Department said that initial claims for unemployment insurance benefits fell to a seasonally adjusted 565,000 in the week ended July 4. It was the lowest number of new claims since the week ended January 10.

Most analysts had forecast claims of 603,000 in the holiday-shortened week. The July 4 Independence Day holiday was observed Friday.

The department said the revised prior week's claims was 617,000, an increase of 3,000.

The four-week moving average, considered a more representative indicator of unemployment trends, declined 1.6 percent to 606,000 claims.

In the week ended June 27, the insured unemployment rate was 5.1 percent, up one-tenth point from the preceding week's unrevised rate.

For that week, a record 6.883 million people claimed unemployment benefits, a gain of 159,000 from the prior week's revised level of 6.724 million.

The number of those claiming jobless benefits was the highest since tracking of the data began in 1967.

On a four-week moving average, those filing claims edged up 0.2 percent to 6.769 million, also a record peak.

Since the recession began in December 2007, the world's biggest economy has lost 6.5 million jobs and the jobless rate has risen 4.6 percentage points, to a 26-year high of 9.5 percent in June.