U.S. Weekly Jobless Claims Unexpectedly Edge Slightly Lower

(RTTNews) - First-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits unexpectedly edged slightly lower in the week ended March 7th, according to a report released by the Labor Department on Thursday.

The Labor Department said initial jobless claims slipped to 213,000, a decrease of 1,000 from the previous week's revised level of 214,000.

Economists had expected jobless claims to inch up to 215,000 from the 213,000 originally reported for the previous week.

"The low and steady level of initial jobless claims suggests the big drop in nonfarm payrolls in February was a blip, not the start of a trend," said Michael Pearce, Chief U.S. Economist at Oxford Economics.

He added, "We think the evidence is consistent with labor market conditions stabilizing before the fallout of the Iran war hits the economy."

The report said the less volatile four-week moving average also dipped to 212,000, a decrease of 4,000 from the previous week's revised average of 216,000.

Continuing claims, a reading on the number of people receiving ongoing unemployment assistance, also fell by 21,000 to 1.850 million in the week ended February 28th.

The four-week moving average of continuing claims edged down to 1,851,750, a decrease of 500 from the previous week's revised average of 1,852,250.

Last Friday, the Labor Department released a more closely watched report showing employment in the U.S. unexpectedly decreased in the month of February.

The report said non-farm payroll employment slumped by 92,000 jobs in February after jumping by a downwardly revised 126,000 jobs in January.

Economists had expected employment to increase by 60,000 jobs compared to the addition of 130,000 jobs originally reported for the previous month.

The Labor Department also said the unemployment rate ticked up to 4.4 percent in February from 4.3 percent in January, in line with economist estimates.