WASHINGTON - The number of U.S. workers filing new claims for jobless benefits fell last week to 550,000, according to a government report on Thursday that also showed the number of those collecting long-term aid tumbled.

Analysts polled by Reuters had expected initial claims to drop to 560,000, after reaching 576,000 the prior week, which had previously been reported as 570,000.

Continued claims fell to 6.088 million in the week ended August 29, the latest for which the data is available, from 6.247 million the prior week. That was the lowest level since the week ended April 4.

(Reporting by Lisa Lambert, Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)

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