After reporting increases in first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits in the two previous weeks, the Labor Department released a report on Thursday showing that initial jobless claims pulled back by more than expected in the week ended February 14th.
The report said initial jobless claims fell to 283,000, a decrease of 21,000 from the previous week's unrevised level of 304,000. Economists had expected jobless claims to show a somewhat more modest decrease to 290,000.
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May 01, 2026 15:54 ET Central banks dominated the economics news flow this week with almost all major ones announcing their latest policy decisions and many boosted expectations for a rate hike in June. In other news, several countries released the preliminary data for first quarter economic growth. In the U.S., comments by Fed Chair Jerome Powell were also in focus as his term ends this month.