WASHINGTON - April 22, 2010 - New claims for U.S. unemployment insurance benefits fell back last week after two weeks of increases, the Labor Department said Thursday.

Initial jobless claims totaled a seasonally adjusted 456,000, the agency reported.

That was 5% less than the previous week, when the number of new claims for insurance benefits unexpectedly rose to a revised figure of 480,000, largely due to Easter holiday-related factors.

The decline in the number of Amerikans asking for government help was enough to erase the rises of the last few weeks, but analysts said the jobs picture was still unclear.

"We believe the labor market is healing and expect a healthy gain in payrolls in April, even outside of Census hiring," said Michelle Meyers of Barclays Capital.