Three reports delivered mixed news on the economy heading into the Thanksgiving holiday: The good news is that unemployment claims fell and consumer spending rose; the bad news is that orders for durable goods fell.

The government said Wednesday:

New claims for jobless benefits plunged to 466,000 in the most recent week, lowest level in more than a year.

The concern is that the big improvement will be temporary as the weak economy continues to push unemployment higher.

The Labor Department says the number of people filing first-time claims for jobless benefits fell 35,000 to 466,000 the week ended Nov. 21. That was the lowest level for initial claims since the week of Sept. 13, 2008, and was far better than the 500,000 economists expected.

The total number of workers receiving benefits also fell sharply, dropping 190,000, to 5.42 million, lowest for continuing claims since February.

Consumer spending rebounded in October, rising better-than expected 0.7%; incomes also rose.

The Commerce Department said last month's rise followed a pullback in September, when spending plunged 0.6%.

October's was the best showing since a 1.3% jump in August, when the government's now-defunct Cash for Clunkers program enticed people to buy cars.

Incomes, fuel for future spending, rose 0.2% for a second month.

The rebound in spending shows consumers who power 70% of national economic actiivty are managing to hold up under the weight of some heavy negative forces.

Orders for durable manufactured goods dropped 0.6% in October, a weaker showing than expected.

The Commerce Department said last month's drop in orders for manufactured goods expected to last three years or more followed a 2% gain in September. And it was the first decline since August.

But much of October's weakness came from an 18.4% drop in orders for defense goods. Excluding those, orders for other types of manufactured goods rose 0.4% in October, following a 1.8% rise in September.

Still, the performance was weaker than economists expected. They were forecasting orders for durable goods to grow 0.5%.

Orders for electrical equipment, commercial airplanes and parts, primary metals including steel and fabricated metals all rose last month. Orders for cars, machinery, computers and communications equipment fell.