US jobless claims fall to 213,000 in first week of March

(Sharecast News) - Americans lined up for unemployment benefits at a decelerated clip in the week ended 7 March, according to the Labor Department, contrasting with weak signals in the Bureau of Labor Statistics' latest jobs report. Initial uneployment claims came in at 213,000, a decreased of 1,000 against the previous week's upwardly revised reading, while the four week moving average, which aims to strip out week-to-week volatility, decreased by 4,000 from the prevous week's upwardly revised reading to 212,000.

Meanwhile, continuing claims, which serve as proxy for outstanding unemployment, fell by 21,000 to 1,850,000 in the week ended 28 February, while the advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 1.2% in the last week of February, unchanged from the previous week's unrevised rate.





Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com