WASHINGTON – Seasonally adjusted initial jobless claims fell to 351,000 for the week ending March 10, a decrease of 14,000 from the previous week's revised level of 365,000, the Labor Department reported Thursday.
Continuing claims were down to 3.343 million for the week ending March 3, a decrease of 81,000 from the previous week's revised level of 3.424 million.
The 351,000 of initial claims were lower than the median 359,000 projected by economists polled by Thomson Reuters. The 3.343 million of continuing claims were below the median economist estimate of 3.410 million, and were the fewest since August 9, 2008, when they numbered 3.337 million.
The four-week moving average for initial claims was 355,750, unchanged from the previous week's revised average.
The four-week moving average for continuing claims was 3.394 million, which was down 25,250 from the preceding week's revised average of 3.420 million average and the lowest since Aug. 23, 2008, when they numbered 3.365 million.
