Wall Street Journal (03/15/12) Jeffrey Sparshott; Eric Morath
The number of Americans who filed requests for jobless benefits fell by 14,000 last week to 351,000, matching a four-year low, the U.S. Department of Labor reported today in the latest sign that the labor market is improving. Claims from two weeks ago were revised up to 365,000 from 362,000. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires had forecast that claims would fall by 5,000. The four-week moving average of claims, which smoothes out week-to-week volatility, was unchanged at 355,750.