U.S. Unemployment Benefit Claims Unexpectedly Down

A day ahead of the release of the more closely watched monthly jobs report, the Labor Department released a report on Thursday unexpectedly showing a modest decrease by first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits in the week ended March 29th.

The report said initial jobless claims dipped to 219,000, a decrease of 6,000 from the previous week’s revised level of 225,000.

Economists had expected initial jobless claims to inch up to 225,000 from the 224,000 originally reported for the previous month.

The Labor Department said the less volatile four-week moving average also edged down to 223,000, a decrease of 1,250 from the previous week’s revised average of 224,250.

The Commerce Department also released a report on Thursday showing the U.S. trade deficit narrowed in the month of February after soaring to a record high in January.

The report said the trade deficit decreased to $122.7 billion in February after spiking to a revised $103.7 billion in January.

Economists had expected the trade deficit to fall to $123.5 billion from the $131.4 billion originally reported for the previous month.

The smaller trade deficit came as the value of exports surged by 2.9 percent to $278.5 billion, while the value of imports was virtually unchanged at $401.1 billion.

At 10 am ET, the Institute for Supply Management is scheduled to release its report on service sector activity in the month of March.

The ISM’s services PMI is expected to edge down to 53.0 in March from 53.5 in February, but a reading above 50 would still indicate growth.

The Treasury Department is due to announce the details of this month’s auctions of three-year and ten-year notes and thirty-year bonds at 11 am ET.