WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — The number of people who applied for U.S. unemployment benefits fell for the sixth time in seven weeks, returning to end-of-summer levels and pointing to some improvement in the labor market.

Initial jobless claims dropped by 10,000 to 316,000 in the week ended Nov. 23, the Labor Department said Wednesday. Economists surveyed by MarketWatch had expected claims to rise to 330,000 on a seasonally adjusted basis.

Investors viewed the report positively. U..S. stocks rose in recent Wednesday action, boosted by the drop in claims, an increase in consumer sentiment and a report showing strong business activity in the Chicago region. They countered a decline in orders for durable goods in October.

While the downward trend in claims is a good sign, economists caution against reading too much into the report during the holiday season that extends from Thanksgiving until past New Year’s. Claims can often bounce around and make it more difficult for government statisticians to make seasonal adjustments.

Joshua Shapiro, chief economist at MFR Inc. in New York, said “we are now in a period of the year where seasonality is acute in these data.”

The average of new claims over the past month, a more reliable gauge than the volatile weekly number, declined by 7,500 to 331,750. That’s the lowest level in nearly two months.

Also, the government said continuing claims decreased by 91,000 to a seasonally adjusted 2.78 million in the week ended Nov. 16. Continuing claims reflect the number of people already receiving benefits.

Initial claims from two weeks ago were revised up to 326,000 from an original reading of 323,000, based on more complete data collected at the state level.