US ASSEMBLY CLAIMS TO THE LOWEST LEVEL SINCE 1969 IN THIS WEEK
The number of people who submitted new applications for unemployment benefits in the US over the past week fell to multi-decade levels, signaling that conditions in the labor market may not be too bad amid a sharp decline in recent economic indicators.
The US Labor Department reported Thursday that initial claims for unemployment benefits at the weekly rate until the end of March 30 fell by 10,000 to a total of 202,000. That was the lowest level since December 1969.
Previous analyst estimates for claims 216,000. For the previous week's data was revised up to 212,000.
For a four-week average level of 213,000, it fell as much as 4,000 from the previous week. The monthly average is seen as a more accurate measure of trends in the labor market because they reduce volatility in weekly level data. This size has declined since February.