WASHINGTON (AFX) - Initial claims for regular state unemployment benefits fell 28,000 to a seasonally adjusted 379,000 for the week ended July 13 from the previous week, the Labor Department said. This is the lowest level of initial claims since the week ended Feb 17, 2001. The fall in jobless claims was larger than expected. The consensus forecast of Wall Street economists polled by AFX News called for claims to fall by 8,000 to 395,000 for the week ended July 13. A statistician for the Labor Department cautioned against reading too much into the decline. He said that claims are experiencing some extra volatility due to annual summer plant shutdowns in the auto, textile and apparel industries. Jobless claims for the week ended July 6 were revised to show a rise of 21,000 to 407,000, compared with the initial estimate of an 16,000 rise to 403,000. The four-week moving average for initial jobless claims fell 4,750 to 391,000. This is the lowest four-week moving average since March 2 and marks the fifth straight week under the key psychological level of 400,000. On an unadjusted basis, claims rose 44,953 to 501,380 for the week ended July 13. There were 524,139 claims in the comparable week of 2001. For the week ended July 6, the insured unemployment rate was 2.8 pct, unchanged from the previous week. Continuing jobless claims for the week ended July 6 rose 1,000 to 3.591 mln. Continuing claims include workers who have already filed an initial jobless claim, and are now drawing unemployment benefits. greg.robb@afxnews.com gar/bam