U.S. applications for unemployment benefits fell last week, returning to the stale level seen at the start of the year. Initial claims fell 21,000 to 221,000 in the week ended March 1. The median forecast in a Bloomberg survey of economists was for 233,000 applications.
Continuing claims, a proxy for the number of people receiving benefits, rose to 1.9 million in the previous week, according to Labor Department data released Thursday. (Newsmaker)
Source: Bloomberg
