US weekly unemployment claims fall steeply

Initial US weekly unemployment claims fell by 18,000 over the week ending on 5 March to reach 259,000, according to the US Department of Labor.

That was far below the 275,000 which economists at Barclays had penciled-in and a five month low.

According to the DoL no special factors impacted the initial claims data in the latest week.

A four-week moving average of claims, which is meant to smoothe over the week-to-week volatility, slipped by 2,500 to reach 267,500.

Secondary unemployment claims, those which are not filed for the first time and referencing the week ending on 27 February, declined by 32,000 to 2.225m.