US jobless claims drift lower
The number of people claiming unemployment insurance in States remained little changed during the previous week.
According to the Department of Labor, initial unemployment claoims slipped by 3,000 over the week ending in 29 February to reach 216.000 (consensus: 215,000).
The four-week moving average meanwhile, which aims to smooth out the variations in the figures from one week to the next, increased by 3,250 to 213,000.
Secondary unemployment claims, those which are not filed for the first time and referencing the week finishing on 22 February, were little changed, increasing by 7,000 to 1.729m.