U.S. Weekly Jobless Claims Unchanged At 213,000

(RTTNews) - A day ahead of the release of the more closely watched monthly jobs report, the Labor Department released a report on Thursday showing first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits came in flat in the week ended February 28th.

The Labor Department said initial jobless claims came in at 213,000, unchanged from the previous week's revised level.

Economists had expected jobless claims to inch up to 215,000 from the 212,000 originally reported for the previous week.

Meanwhile, the report said the less volatile four-week moving average fell to 215,750, a decrease of 4,750 from the previous week's revised average of 220,500.