WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Ahead of Friday's more closely watched monthly employment report, the Labor Department released a report on Thursday showing a modest increase in first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits in the week ended February 27th.
The report said initial jobless claims inched up to 745,000, an increase of 9,000 from the previous week's revised level of 736,000.
Economists had expected jobless claims to rise to 750,000 from the 730,000 originally reported for the previous week.
Meanwhile, the Labor Department said the less volatile four-week moving average fell to 790,750, a decrease of 16,750 from the previous week's revised average of 807,500.
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