Weekly unemployment claims unexpectedly decline in America

The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits unexpectedly fell last week, suggesting that employment growth likely remained strong in February.

According to Reuters, the US Department of Labor said on Thursday that applications submitted for the first time for unemployment benefits fell by 12,000 to a seasonally adjusted level of 201,000 applications during the week ending February 17.

Economists had expected in a Reuters poll that the number of applications would reach 218,000 last week.