The number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits fell by 6,000 to 219,000 for the week ending March 29, according to statistics released by the Labor Department. That’s less than the 226,000 new applications analysts had been expecting, according to The Associated Press.
Weekly applications for jobless benefits are considered a proxy for layoffs, and have remained mostly in a range between 200,000 and 250,000 for the past few years.
The four-week average of applications, which aims to smooth out some of the week-to-week swings, fell by 1,250 to 223,000.
The total number of Americans receiving unemployment benefits for the week of March 22 increased by 56,000 to 1.9 million.
