US jobless claims fall to lowest since February

Applications for US unemployment benefits reached the lowest level since last February in the week ended April 20.

Labor Department data showed today, April 25, that initial jobless claims shed 5,000 to 207,000 last week.

Data for the previous week was revised up from 212,000 to 215,000 applications.

The four-week moving average for new claims, a better measure of labor market trends as it irons out weekly fluctuations, decreased by 1,250 from last week's unadjusted average of 214,500 applications.