US: Weekly Initial Jobless Claims fall to 187K vs. 212K expected

There were 187,000 initial jobless claims in the US in the week ending on 19 March, less than the 212,000 expected and below the week prior, when there were 215,000 claims (revised up from 214,000), data published by the US Department of Labor (DOL) revealed on Thursday. The four-week moving average of initial claims thus fell to 211,750 from 223,250 the week before. 

Continued claims in the week ending on 12 March fell to 1.35M, much less than the expected drop to 1.41M from 1.417M the week prior (which was revised down from 1.419M). The Insured Unemployment rate in the week ending on 12 March remained at 1.0% versus 1.0% the week before.