US initial jobless claims drop by 1,000
Americans lined up for unemployment benefits at only a slightly decelerated pace in the week ended 22 March, according to the Department of Labor.
Initial jobless claims decreased by 1,000 to 224,000 last week, slightly below expectations for an unchanged reading of 225,000 but still at historically low levels.
Continuing claims fell by 25,000, while the four-week moving average also came to 224,000, down 4,750 from the previous week's revised average and pointing to a robust labour market despite a prolonged period of restrictive monetary policy and some bleak macro data in Q1.
Unemployment claims filed under programs for Federal government employees, closely watched due to a spate of recent firings by the Department of Government Efficiency, fell by 245 to 821
However, many DOGE firings included severance packages, preventing people from claiming benefits immediately after being terminated.
Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com