The number of people who filed first-time claims for unemployment benefits fell by 47,000 last week, to 522,000, the Labor Department just reported.

The "four-week moving average" number of claims declined to 584,400 in the week ending July 11 from 607,000 the previous week.

And the number of people actually receiving the benefits in the week ending July 4 stood at 6.27 million — down by 642,000 from a week before.

Update at 8:50 a.m. ET: The Associated Press says the figures were "clouded by difficulties adjusting for temporary shutdowns at auto plants."