Weekly Jobless Claims Fall Again

AP
Adam Martin 172 Views Mar 1, 2012

Even fewer people applied for unemployment benefits last week than the two weeks prior, during which the number had hovered at a four-year low. The U.S. Department of Labor reported on Thursday that 351,000 people had applied for the benefits, 2,000 fewer than the previous two weeks' 353,000. The four-week moving average actually had a more significant drop, falling 5,500 to 354,000 from 359,500.

For numbers geeks, that's kind of unique, as the four-week average is considered to be a more stable number. The jobs news comes a day after the U.S. gross domestic product got revised upward to 3 percent, so stocks are already gearing up for a rise, The Wall Street Journal reports. Now if only the weather would clear up, we could start talking about a sunny day on Wall Street.

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