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US initial jobless claims fell last week for the third straight week, the government said on Thursday, in a report offering fresh evidence the ailing labour market is recovering.

The number of first-time claims for unemployment insurance payments dropped to a seasonally-adjusted 388,000 in the week ending March 26, from an upwardly revised 394,000 in the prior week, the Labour Department reported.

It was the third consecutive week of declines in the weekly number, extending a downtrend in claims seen since mid-August.

The four-week moving average, which helps to smooth week-to-week volatility, rose to 394,250 claims, an increase of 3,250 from the prior week
.

Ian Shepherdson, chief US economist at High Frequency Economics, noted a big jump of 12,000 claims for the week ending March 19, due to the department's adjustment of seasonal factors.

"The revised data show a slightly less steep drop in claims over the past few months but the key point here is that the trend is still clearly downwards," Shepherdson said.

The report came a day ahead of the Labour Department's keenly anticipated March data on the troubled labour market, which along with the depressed housing market, has posed major obstacles to economic recovery from recession.

Most analysts forecast that the economy added 185,000 non-farm jobs, down from 192,000 in February, and that the unemployment rate held unchanged at 8.9 percent.

09:20 | |

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