Reply #33: Initial Jobless Claims Drop to 391,000

[Pale Blue Dot]

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- The number of Americans filing unemployment claims fell more than expected last week, the Labor Department said early Thursday.

The advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims decreased by 22,000 to 391,000 in the week ended Feb.19 from an upwardly revised 413,000 in the previous week. Economists were expecting initial claims to stay stable at 410,000, according to consensus estimates from Briefing.com.

The number of Americans filing continuing claims -- those who have been receiving unemployment insurance for at least a week -- was significantly lower as well at 3.79 million for the week ended Feb.12, a decrease of 145,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 3.93 million. Economists expected continuing claims to come in at 3.91 million.

http://www.thestreet.com/story/11020860/1/initial-jobless-claims-drop-to-391000.html