Oct. 11 (Bloomberg) -- The number of U.S. workers filing first-time claims for unemployment benefits declined more than forecast last week, showing the labor market remained resilient heading into the fourth quarter.

Initial jobless claims dropped by 12,000 to 308,000 in the week that ended Oct. 6, from a revised 320,000 a week earlier, the Labor Department said today in Washington. The four-week moving average, a less volatile measure, decreased to 310,250 from 313,250 the previous week.

Companies are reluctant to fire workers as business investment and rising exports sustain demand in the face of a deepening housing recession. Job and wage growth have so far buoyed consumer spending, which accounts for 70 percent of the economy.

``Job creation is still good enough to maintain the consumer,'' Jim Paulsen, chief investment strategist at Wells Capital Management in Minneapolis, Minnesota, said before the report. ``Job generation has slowed down but is not collapsing.''

Economists had forecast claims would decline to 315,000, from a previously reported 317,000 for the week ended Sept. 29, according to the median of 42 projections in a Bloomberg News survey. Estimates ranged from 309,000 to 325,000.

So far this year, weekly claims have averaged 317,375, compared with an average 313,000 for all of 2006.

The number of people continuing to collect state unemployment benefits fell to 2.521 million in the week that ended Sept. 29, the lowest since mid-June, from 2.536 million the prior week.

Unemployment Rate

The unemployment rate among people eligible to collect state jobless benefits, which tends to track the national unemployment rate, was unchanged at 1.9 percent in the week ended Sept. 29, the Labor Department said today.

The national unemployment rate rose to 4.7 percent in September, a one-year high, even as employers added 110,000 jobs during the month after an 89,000 increase the prior month that was revised from an originally reported decline, the government said Oct. 5.

Twenty-three states and territories reported an increase in new claims, while 30 had a decrease, the Labor report said today. These data are reported with a one-week lag.

The Federal Reserve, in minutes of its Sept. 18 meeting released this week, said claims ``did not indicate a substantial and widespread weakening in labor demand, and labor markets across the country generally remained fairly tight.'' Fed policy makers signaled they were in no hurry to reduce rates again after making a greater-than-forecast half point rate cut last month, according to the minutes.

Layoffs

Still, home builders, furniture makers, mortgage lenders and other companies linked to the real-estate industry are trimming their payrolls.

Jacksonville-based St. Joe Co., Florida's largest private landowner, plans to eliminate about 760 employees, more than 75 percent of its workforce, and sell about 100,000 acres of land contend with the worst housing slump in 16 years, the company said Oct. 8.

Stanley Furniture Company, Inc. yesterday said it would fire about 250 employees, or about one-fifth of its workforce, at its Martinsville and Stanleytown, Virginia, facilities over the next four months.

``The continuing downturn in business conditions impacting our industry requires us to manage our cost structure,'' said Chief Executive Officer Jeffrey Scheffer in a statement. ``We believe this action will align our staffing levels with current business conditions.''

To contact the reporter on this story: Bob Willis in Washington at bwillis@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: October 11, 2007 08:30 EDT