Jobless claims drop by 27,000

First-time claims for unemployment benefits dropped by 27,000 last week, a sign of the labor market's continued healing. 

Applications for unemployment benefits dropped to 341,000 for the week ended Feb. 9, the best showing in three weeks, which is back near a three-year low, the Labor Department said on Thursday. 

The four-week moving average, which provides a better indication of where the job market is headed, increased from what was a five-year low the previous week, up slightly by 1,500 to 352,500.

The figures provide an indication of the pace of layoffs in the economy. 

The job market has been gradually improving but employers still aren't hiring at a pace that could really put a dent in the persistently high unemployment level, which stands at 7.9 percent. 

Still, there were 157,000 jobs added in January and job gains during the end of the year were larger than previously estimated, all good news for millions of workers struggling to get back into the labor force. 

Economists are expecting the jobless rate to drop to 7 percent by the end of the year and dip further by 2014.

---