Investing.com - The number of people who filed for unemployment assistance in the U.S. last week fell more-than-expected, adding to evidence of an improving U.S. labor market, official data showed on Thursday.
In a report, the U.S. Department of Labor said the number of individuals filing for initial jobless benefits in the week ending March 10 fell by 14,000 to a seasonally adjusted 351,000, beating expectations for a decline of 9,000 to 356,000.
The previous week’s figure was revised up to 365,000 from 362,000.
Jobless claims have remained below 400,000, a level historically associated with an improving labor market, in 18 of the past 20 weeks.
Continuing jobless claims in the week ended March 3 fell to 3.343 million, compared to expectations for a decline to 3.405 million. Continuing claims for the previous week were revised up to 3.424 million from 3.416 million.
The four-week moving average was 355,750, unchanged from the previous week's revised average of 355,750. The monthly average is seen as a more accurate gauge of labor trends because it reduces volatility in the week-to-week data.
Following the release of the data, the U.S. dollar remained lower against the euro, with EUR/USD edging up 0.15% to trade at 1.3051.
Meanwhile, U.S. stock future indices held on to gains after the release of the data. The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures pointed to an increase of 0.25%, S&P 500 futures pointed to a gain of 0.3%, while the Nasdaq 100 futures pointed to a rise of 0.3%.
In a report, the U.S. Department of Labor said the number of individuals filing for initial jobless benefits in the week ending March 10 fell by 14,000 to a seasonally adjusted 351,000, beating expectations for a decline of 9,000 to 356,000.
The previous week’s figure was revised up to 365,000 from 362,000.
Jobless claims have remained below 400,000, a level historically associated with an improving labor market, in 18 of the past 20 weeks.
Continuing jobless claims in the week ended March 3 fell to 3.343 million, compared to expectations for a decline to 3.405 million. Continuing claims for the previous week were revised up to 3.424 million from 3.416 million.
The four-week moving average was 355,750, unchanged from the previous week's revised average of 355,750. The monthly average is seen as a more accurate gauge of labor trends because it reduces volatility in the week-to-week data.
Following the release of the data, the U.S. dollar remained lower against the euro, with EUR/USD edging up 0.15% to trade at 1.3051.
Meanwhile, U.S. stock future indices held on to gains after the release of the data. The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures pointed to an increase of 0.25%, S&P 500 futures pointed to a gain of 0.3%, while the Nasdaq 100 futures pointed to a rise of 0.3%.