U.S. Weekly Jobless Claims Unexpectedly Edge Slightly Lower

(RTTNews) - First-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits unexpectedly edged slightly lower in the week ended March 23rd, according to a report released by the Labor Department on Thursday.

The report said initial jobless claims dipped to 210,000, a decrease of 2,000 from the previous week's revised level of 212,000.

Economists had expected jobless claims to rise to 215,000 from the 210,000 originally reported for the previous week.

The Labor Department said the less volatile four-week moving average also edged down to 211,000, a decrease of 750 from the previous week's revised average of 211,750.

Meanwhile, the report said continuing claims, a reading on the number of people receiving ongoing unemployment assistance, rose by 24,000 to 1.819 million in the week ended March 16th.

The four-week moving average of continuing claims also crept up to 1,802,750, an increase of 3,500 from the previous week's revised average of 1,799,250.

"On a trend basis, continued claims are up about 8% y/y, suggesting unemployed individuals are finding it a touch more difficult to obtain new jobs," said Nancy Vanden Houten, Lead U.S. Economist at Oxford Economics.

She added, "The Fed doesn't require significant weakening in the labor market to begin cutting interest rates but does need to be confident the job market is balanced enough to support a continued slowing in wage growth."

Next Friday, the Labor Department is scheduled to release its more closely watched report on employment in the month of March.

Economists currently expect employment to jump by 200,000 jobs in March after surging by 275,000 jobs in February, while the unemployment rate is expected to hold at 3.9 percent.