U.S. weekly jobless claims unexpectedly edge lower, signal strength in labor market

According to a report released by the Labor Department on Thursday, U.S. weekly jobless claims unexpectedly fell in the week ended April 8th. It was the third straight weekly decline in claims and suggested that the U.S. labor market remains strong despite a sharp slowdown in job growth in March.

Data from the Labor Department showed initial jobless claims dipped to 234,000, a decrease of 1,000 from the previous week's revised level of 235,000. Data beat economists' forecasts for jobless claims to rise to 245,000 from the 234,000 originally reported for the previous week.

Continuing claims also fell by 7,000 to 2.028 million in the week ended April 1st. Meanwhile, the four-week moving average of claims, considered a better measure of labor market trends inched up to 2,025,500, an increase of 750 from the previous week's revised average of 2,024,750.

The low level of claims suggests that a sharp slowdown in job growth in March was an aberration and that the labor market continues to tighten. " On the whole, we see today’s data in line with our view of an improvement in US labor markets this year," said Barclays in a report.