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U.S. initial jobless claims lower than forecast

Xinhua, March 12, 2015 Adjust font size:

The number of Americans initially applying for unemployment aid last week turned out to be smaller than the market expectation, a new sign of an improving job market.

In the week ending March 7, the advance figure of seasonally adjusted initial claims for jobless benefits fell to 289,000, 36,000 less than the revised level of the previous week, the U.S. Labor Department said Thursday.

The figure was better than the average market expectation of 305,000 last week.

Meanwhile, the four-week moving average, which helps smooth out week-to-week volatility, edged down by 3,750 to 302,250 last week.

The advance figure of seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending Feb. 28 decreased 5,000 from the previous week to 2,418,000.

The U.S. economy added 295,000 jobs in February and the unemployment rate fell to 5.5 percent, the lowest level since May 2008, the Labor Department reported Friday. Endi