The Labor Department released its weekly unemployment statistics on Thursday. It showed that about 214,000 workers filed for unemployment benefits in the week ending on March 12th. That was a slight decrease from the previous week.
Here is the official statement from the Labor Department:
In the week ending Ma rch 12, the a dva nce figure for sea sonally a djusted initial claims wa s 214,000, a decrease of 15,000 from the previous week's revised level. The previous week's level was revised up by 2,000 from 227,000 to 229,000. The 4-week moving a vera ge wa s 223,000, a decrea se of 8,750 from the previous week's revised a vera ge. The previous week's average was revised up by 500 from 231,250 to 231,750.