New data from the U.S. Department of Labor released Thursday showed that the number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits for the first time remained steady in the latest reporting week.
Initial jobless claims totaled 213,000 for the week ending February 28, matching the revised figure from the previous week.
Economists had anticipated a slight increase to around 215,000 claims, compared with the originally reported 212,000 for the prior week.
The report also showed that the four-week moving average, which smooths out short-term fluctuations in the data, declined to 215,750. That represents a drop of 4,750 from the previous week’s revised average of 220,500.
The data was published one day before the Labor Department’s closely watched monthly employment report, which is expected to provide a broader snapshot of conditions in the U.S. labor market.