The number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits fell slightly last week, indicating a still-healthy U.S. labor market.
U.S. jobless claims filings fell by 2,000 to 220,000 for the week ending March 8, the Labor Department said Thursday. That’s fewer than the 226,000 new applications analysts forecast.
Weekly applications for jobless benefits are considered a proxy for layoffs, and have remained mostly in a range between 200,000 and 250,000 for the past few years.
The four-week average, which evens out some of the week-to-week swings, ticked up by 1,500 to 226,000.
The total number of Americans receiving unemployment benefits for the week of March 1 fell by 27,000 to 1.87 million.
