WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — The number of people who applied for new unemployment benefits in the second week of February dropped back below the key 300,000 mark, offering fresh evidence that layoffs remain low and the pace of hiring in the U.S. is still robust.
Initial jobless claims fell by 21,000 to 283,000 in the seven days from Feb 8 to Feb. 14, the Labor Department said Thursday. New applications for unemployment benefits are now running 14% below year-ago levels.
Even better, the average of new claims over the past four weeks declined by 6,500 to 283,250, hitting the lowest level since late October and the third lowest since the recovery began 5½ years ago.
The monthly number offers a better look at underlying labor-market trends by smoothing out big swings in the more up-and-down weekly report.
New jobless claims each week usually hover at or below 300,000 when companies are rapidly producing new jobs. The economy boosted employment by 252,000 in January, getting the new year off to a good start after the U.S. in 2014 added the most new jobs in 15 years.
Meanwhile, the government said continuing claims increased by 58,000 to a seasonally adjusted 2.43 million in the week ended Feb. 7. These claims reflect the number of people already receiving regular unemployment checks, but they don't take into account unemployed workers who’ve exhausted benefits or stopped looking for jobs.
