The number of people filing new claims for unemployment insurance fell for the second week in a row while the four-week moving average for initial claims rose to its highest level in over two years, the Labor Department said today. The number of first-time claims filed in the week ending Feb. 9 fell by 9,000 to 348,000. That's below the 343,000 claims economists polled by Thomson's IFR Markets had expected. The four-week moving average for initial claims increased by 12,000 to 347,250, the highest level since October 2005. Economists prefer the four-week moving average because it smoothes out fluctuations in the weekly data. For the week ending Feb. 2, the number of individuals continuing to receive unemployment insurance fell by 9,000 to 2.761 million, below the 2.780 million claims economists had expected. The four-week moving average for continuing claims rose by 3,500 to 2.728 million, the highest level since November 2005.