Initial weekly US jobless claims drop sharply

US jobless claims, one of the most closely-followed indicators of the health of the jobs market, dropped more sharply than expected over the preceding week.

According to the Department of Labor, initial jobless claims for the week ending on 16 March fell by 9,000 to 221,000.

Economists at Barclays Research had forecast a reading of 225,000.

The four-week moving average meanwhile, which aims to smooth out the fluctuations in the data from one week to the next, was up by 1,000 to 225,000.

Meanwhile, secondary unemployment claims, those which are not filed for the first time and referencing the week concluding on 9 March, dropped by 27,000 to 1.75m.