First-time claims for unemployment benefits fell to 289,000 for the week ending March 7,a decrease of 36,000 from the week before, the Labor Department reported Thursday.
The improvement came after two weeks of jobless claims unexpectedly rising well above the 300,000 mark, on a seasonally-adjusted basis. Last week’s claims were revised upward to 325,000.
The four-week moving average for jobless claims also fell by 3,750 to 302,250, the Department of Labor said.
Other indicators of job growth have been encouraging in recent weeks.
Job vacancies finally returned to pre-recession levels in December, reaching 5.2 million, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported in revised data in the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey published Tuesday.
Meanwhile, payroll job gains have solidified throughout the unusually cold and harsh U.S. winter. The Bureau reported 295,000 new jobs in February, bringing the three-month average to nearly 290,000.
Altogether, there were 2,891,641 people receiving unemployment benefits in the week ending February 21, down from 3,450,757 a year before.
The biggest increase in jobless claims came in New York, which saw claims rise by over 21,000. The state attributed the increase to layoffs in transportation and warehousing, restaurants, and education.
Tennessee, which saw an increase of over 6,000 first-time claims, blamed the surge on inclement weather.
