The number of Americans who applied for unemployment benefits fell by 18,000 in the first week of March, setting a five-month low of 259,000 and reflecting a low rate of layoffs in a steadily growing economy.
Economists polled by MarketWatch had expected initial jobless claims to total a seasonally adjusted 275,000 for the seven days stretching from Feb. 28 to March 5.
Initial claims fell below the 300,000 threshold that signals a healthy labor market more than a year ago. They have remained under that mark since. New claims touched a 42-year low of 256,000 in October.
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Last week, the government said the economy created 242,000 new jobs in February. The U.S. has generated an average of more than 200,000 new jobs a month for more than two years, knocking the unemployment rate below 5% for the first time since 2008.
Meanwhile, the average of new claims over the past four weeks fell by 2,500 to 267,500, the Labor Department said Thursday. The monthly average is seen as a more accurate predictor of labor-market trends. It’s also signaling that the jobs market is much improved.
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Some 2.26 million people collected weekly unemployment benefits, known as continuing claims, in the seven days ended Feb. 27. That was down 32,000 from the prior week.
