There were slightly fewer Americans applying unemployment claims than experts were calling for over the past few days.
Figures released Thursday by the U.S. Labor Department showed initial filings for unemployment insurance totaled 232,000 for the week ended Feb. 19, a touch below the 235,000 Dow Jones estimate and down 17,000 from the previous week.
Meantime, continuing claims, which run a week behind the headline number, totaled 1.48 million, a decline of 112,000 from the previous week and proving the lowest total since March 14, 1970.
Despite the improved jobs picture, total employment level remains about 1.7 million below where it was in February 2020, just before the COVID-19 pandemic hit American shores. The unemployment rate has fallen from a pandemic peak of 14.7% to 4%.
