By Rex Nutting
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) - The number of people filing for state unemployment benefits for the first time fell 26,000 to a seasonally adjusted 550,000 last week, the lowest since mid-July, the U.S. Labor Department reported Thursday. Initial claims have been in a fairly narrow range for the past eight weeks. The number of people collecting regular state benefits fell by 159,000 in the week ending Aug. 29 to a seasonally adjusted 6.09 million, the lowest number since April. The not-seasonally adjusted number of people claiming benefits of any kind -- including extended federal benefits -- in the week of Aug. 22 was 9.69 million, up 23,000 from the previous week.
