The Department of Labor reported Thursday morning that in the week ending Feb. 25, seasonally adjusted first-time claims for unemployment benefits were 351,000. That's down from the previous week's revision of 353,000. The four-week moving average, which flattens volatility in the weekly numbers, fell 354,000, down 5,500 from the previous week's revised average of 359,500. It was the seventh consecutive week of claims below 400,000 the 15th week of the past 17 below that level.
Last year at this time, claims were 375,000, but after seven weeks around that level they rose again above 400,000 each week until November.
All told, the number of people claiming benefits in all programs, including federal emergency extensions, was 7,498,613 for the week ending Feb. 11. That's an increase of 11,933 from the previous week. That number will start dropping markedly as the payroll tax cut deal struck in Congress reduces the possible number of weeks a person can collect benefits from 99 to 63.
In other news, consumer spending rose a nominal 0.3 percent from December to January, while spending rose a nominal 0.2 percent, the Commerce Department reported. Both figures were below consensus forecasts. After adjusting for taxes and inflation, income actually fell by 0.1 percent and consumer spending was flat. Inflation-adjusted spending has stayed at the same level for three months. The spending pattern is an indication that consumers are still being very cautious.