US: Weekly Initial Jobless Claims fall to 215K vs. 226K expected

There were 215,000 initial jobless claims in the US in the week ending on 26 February, less than the 226,000 expected and below the week prior, when there were 233,000 claims (revised up from 232,000), data published by the US Department of Labor (DOL) revealed on Thursday. Continued Claims in the week ending on 19 February rose very slightly to 1.476M from 1.474M the week prior, almost bang in line with expectations for a 1.475M reading. The insured unemployment rate was thus steady at 1.1%, unchanged from the week prior.