U.S. first-time claims for unemployment benefits fell to their lowest level in over forty years in the week ended February 25th, labor department report on Thursday showed. Initial jobless claims unexpectedly fell to 223,000, a decrease of 19,000 from the previous week's revised level of 242,000.
Data beat economists' expectations for claims to inch up to 245,000 from the 244,000 originally reported for the previous month. DNB markets expects some weekly volatility, but added that overall level was very low and consistent with high employment growth.
The Labor Department said the less volatile four-week moving average also slid to 234,250, a decrease of 6,250 from the previous week's revised average of 240,500. The four-week moving average is now down to its lowest level since it hit 232,750 in the week ended April 14, 1973.
Continuing claims rose by 3,000 to 2.066 million in the week ended February 18th. The four-week moving average of continuing claims also edged up to 2,071,250, an increase of 750 from the previous week's revised average of 2,070,500.
