Labour market data was mixed on Thursday ahead of the closely watched US jobs report for February, due on Friday morning. Workers filing initial claims for jobless benefits fell 10,000 to a seasonally adjusted 328,000 last week, slightly lower than Wall Street expectations, the US Labour Department reported.
But the four-week moving average for claims, a better look at the underlying trend, climbed to 339,000, its highest since an equal level in October 2005.
Winter storms had boosted claims in early February. No special factors, including weather, had any impact on data in this report, a Labour Department official said. Weekly levels have fallen since then.
"We continue to judge the labour market as healthy. There are downside risks from construction, auto and even subprime lenders if more of them go bankrupt and lay off people," said Michelle Meyer, an economist at Lehman Brothers in New York.
The number of workers filing for continuing claims fell 98,000 in the week ended February 24 to 2.55 million, mostly offsetting a 118,000 jump the prior week. The insured unemployment rate was 1.9 percent in the week ended February 24, down from 2 percent the prior week.
Treasury bond prices slightly extended their losses after the claims data was released, while stock index futures pointed to a higher opening on Wall Street. Meanwhile, a gauge of US online labour demand jumped in February to a record high, with the steepest gains in the utilities sector and transportation and warehousing, a report showed on Thursday.
Monster World-wide, a global online careers and recruiting firm, said its Employment Index rose to 177 in February from 168 in January - a jump of 5.4 percent. It was 157 a year earlier. "The significant jump in February marks the Monster Employment Index's largest monthly increase on record, and indicates a sharp rebound in online job availability following January's weaker-than-usual results," said Steve Pogorzelski, group president of Monster World-wide Inc.
The February figure shows a surge in intended hiring that should be felt in March payrolls, Pogorzelski said. All this data comes a day ahead of the jobs report, which is closely watched by stock and bond traders because it is one of the best early reads on the health and direction of the US economy. Derivatives traders were betting on Thursday that US employers added 82,500 jobs in February, according to the preliminary implied median market forecast of a derivatives auction.
The result was below the 93,100 job gain implied in a similar auction on Wednesday and the median forecast of a 100,000 increase among economists polled by Reuters. The US Labour Department will issue the latest non-farm payroll report on Friday at 8:30 am (1330 GMT). The jobless rate is expected to remain at 4.6 percent and the average workweek also staying flat at 33.8 hours.