First-Time Jobless Claims Return to Four-Year Low

The labor market continues to show signs of strength as first time jobless claims fell back to a four-year low in the week ending March 10. Initial unemployment claims dropped 14,000 to a seasonally adjusted 351,000, the Labor Department said Thursday. The four-week moving average, a less volatile number that flattens out week-to-week fluctuations in the data, was 355,750, unchanged from the previous week’s revised figure. Jobless claims have mostly remained below 400,000 since November. Analysts say that jobless claims between 350,000 and 375,000 indicate that hiring is picking up at a pace to lower the unemployment rate, which is currently at 8.3 percent. The number of Americans filing for continuing unemployment claims during the week ending March 3 was 3,343,000, a decrease of 81,000 from the preceding week. The total number of people claiming benefits in all programs for the week ending Feb. 25 was 7,424,040, an increase of 36,392 from the previous week.. States reported 2,875,795 persons claiming emergency unemployment benefits for the week ending Feb. 25, a decrease of 53,415 from the prior week.  The largest increases in initial jobless claims for the week ending March 3 were in California, New York, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Virginia. The largest decreases were in Kentucky, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Puerto Rico, and Rhode Island.