Indicating continued strength in the job market, the Labor Department released a report on Thursday showing that first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits fell to their lowest level in over forty years in the week ended February 25th.
The report said initial jobless claims dropped to 223,000, a decrease of 19,000 from the previous week's revised level of 242,000.
The decline in jobless claims came as a surprise to economists, who had expected claims to inch up to 245,000 from the 244,000 originally reported for the previous month.
With the unexpected decrease, jobless claims fell to their lowest level since hitting 222,000 in the week ended March 31, 1973.
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 drop pulled the four-week moving average down to its lowest level since it hit 232,750 in the week ended April 14, 1973.
On the other hand, the report said continuing claims, a reading on the number of people receiving ongoing unemployment assistance, 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.
Next Friday, the Labor Department is scheduled to release its more closely watched monthly employment report for February.
by RTT Staff Writer
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