U.S. initial unemployment claims dropped to 202,000 last week

The U.S. Department of Labor released that, for the week ending March 28, the number of initial claims for unemployment benefits was 202,000, down by 9,000 from the previous week. The market expected 212,000; the prior value was revised to 211,000.

The four-week moving average of the number of people filing initial claims for unemployment benefits in the U.S. last week was 207.75 thousand, down by 3,000 from the previous week.

For the week ending March 21, the number of continuing claims for unemployment benefits in the U.S. was 1.841 million, up by 25,000 from the previous week. The market expected 1.837 million.