Washington, DC, April 6, 2006-- First-time claims for state unemployment benefits unexpectedly fell by 5,000 to 299,000 in the week ended April 1, the Labor Department said Thursday.
It's a decrease from the prior week's revised 304,000 claims and is the lowest level seen since Feb. 18.
Economists had been expecting initial jobless claims to rise to about 306,000.
A year ago, initial jobless claims were at 346,000.
The four-week moving average of new claims also fell, retreating by 2,750 to 308,500.
The number of people who continue to collect unemployment benefits fell by 22,000, to 2.44 million, in the week ended March 25.
