New Jobless Claims Drop, but More on Unemployment Rolls

WASHINGTON (Reuters) — The number of workers applying for unemployment benefits fell 24,000 last week to a lower-than-expected 351,000, but the number remaining on jobless aid stood at the highest level in nearly two and a half years, the Labor Department said Thursday. Economists expected initial jobless claims to fall to a seasonally adjusted 360,000 for the week ended March 1, from 375,000 the prior week, revised up from 373,000.

While Thursday's data showed some weakness in the labor market, Wall Street will be closely watching the government's report to be released Friday on the employment picture last month. Economists forecast that a scant 25,000 jobs were added bringing the unemployment rate up to 5.0% from 4.9%.

A Labor Department official said there were no special factors behind last week's bigger-than-expected decline in jobless claims.

And, even though initial claims fell, the number of workers remaining on jobless benefits continued to rise and stood at the highest level since the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in September 2005. There were 2.83 million of these continued claims in the week ended Feb. 23, the most recent week these figures were available, from 2.80 million.