| The Labor Department released a report on Thursday showing first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits edged slightly lower in the week ended March 22nd. The report said initial jobless claims slipped to 224,000, a decrease of 1,000 from the previous week's revised level of 225,000. The Labor Department said the less volatile four-week moving average also dipped to 224,000, a decrease of 4,750 from the previous week's revised average of 228,750. The report said continuing claims, a reading on the number of people receiving ongoing unemployment assistance, also fell by 25,000 to 1.856 million in the week ended March 15th. Meanwhile, the four-week moving average of continuing claims rose to 1,870,000, an increase of 2,250 from the previous week's revised average of 1,867,750. Powered by Commodity Insights |