(March 12): Applications for US unemployment benefits edged down last week, indicating layoffs remain contained.
Initial claims decreased by 1,000 to 213,000 in the week ended March 7, according to Labor Department data released Thursday. The median forecast in a Bloomberg survey of economists called for 215,000.
Continuing claims, a proxy for the number of people receiving benefits, also fell, to 1.85 million, in the previous week.
New claims have remained fairly subdued, even as an increasing number of companies have announced job cuts this year. In the past couple of weeks alone, Oracle Corp, Morgan Stanley, and Jack Dorsey’s Block Inc all said they would reduce their workforce.
The monthly employment published last week showed US nonfarm payrolls unexpectedly dropped in February, casting doubts in a job market economists and policymakers had mostly viewed as stabilising up until then. Federal Reserve officials are widely expected to leave interest rates unchanged at their policy meeting next week, with the war in Iran interjecting further uncertainty on the outlook for prices.
The four-week moving average of new applications, a metric that helps smooth out volatility, declined to 212,000 last week.
See also: US mortgage rates climb to 6.19% in biggest gain since September
Before adjusting for seasonal factors, initial claims fell as well. New York had the largest drop by far.
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