WASHINGTON, April 4 (Xinhua) -- The number of initial jobless claims in the United States fell to its lowest level since December 1969, according to a report released by the U.S. Department of Labor on Thursday.
In the week ending March 30, the number of people filing for U.S. unemployment benefits was 202,000, a decrease of 10,000 from the previous week's revised level, said the report.
The previous week's level was revised up by 1,000 from 211,000 to 212,000, according to the report.
The department's report also showed that four-week moving average of initial claims, a method to iron out data volatility, dropped 4,000 to 213,500 last week.
A lower reading in jobless claims could indicate lower overall layoffs. As an important leading indicator to reflect unemployment status in the United States, the reading of jobless claims remained below the 300,000 threshold, signaling a tight labor market in the United States.
The Department of Labor is scheduled to release its employment data and the unemployment rate of March on Friday.
