First-time jobless claims near four-year low

The labor market showed continuing signs of improvement last week as first-time applications for unemployment benefits dropped by 15,000, hitting its lowest level in nearly four years. 

Hiring has picked up in recent months, and weekly jobless claims dropped to 358,000 for the week that ended Feb. 4 from a revised 373,000, the Labor Department said Thursday.

The four-week moving average, a better gauge than the weekly figure, was 366,250, a decrease of 11,000 from the previous week's revised average of 377,250 — the lowest since April 2008, five months after the recession started.

Economists say when applications remain below 375,000 it usually signals a healthy labor market. 

Weekly claims are dropping along with monthly figures — the economy added 243,0000 jobs last month and the unemployment rate fell to a three-year low of 8.3 percent. 

Those still collecting jobless benefits rose by 64,000 to 3.52 million in the week ending Jan. 28. The continuing claims figure does not include the number of workers receiving federal jobless benefits.

The number of workers who have used up their up to 26 weeks of state benefits and have moved into federal emergency and extended benefits was up about 18,650 to 3.5 million in the week that ended Jan. 21. 

Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Analytics, said he expects the next round of yearly forecasts to show improvement after earlier dismal expectations for the labor market were released. 

Zandi said improvement is being seen across the labor market, with sectors like manufacturing, which expanded at the fastest pace in seven months in January, and the service sector to continue boosting the job market. 

Still, unemployment is still high and Congress is trying to work out an agreement on extending federal unemployment benefits through the end of the year, along with ways to provide a boost to the economy that will spur hiring.