In the week ending March 21, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 282,000, a decrease of 9,000 from the previous week’s unrevised level of 291,000. The 4-week moving average was 297,000, a decrease of 7,750 from the previous week’s unrevised average of 304,750.

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 1.8% for the week ending March 14, unchanged from the previous week’s unrevised rate. The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending March 14 was 2,416,000, a decrease of 6,000 from the previous week’s revised level.

According to a related Bloomberg report, a sustained low level of applications shows that employers are holding on to workers, which typically coincides with more hiring. Continued gains in employment was one of the two signals, along with a pickup in inflation, that Federal Reserve officials last week said were necessary before raising rates, Bloomberg said.

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