US: Initial weekly jobless claims increased by 6,000 to 229,000

"In the week ending March 9, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 229,000, an increase of 6,000 from the previous week's unrevised level of 223,000," the U.S. Department of Labor announced on Thursday.

 Key takeaways from the press release

• The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 1.2 percent for the week ending March 2, unchanged from the previous week's unrevised rate.
• The 4-week moving average was 223,750, a decrease of 2,500 from the previous week's unrevised average of 226,250.
• The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending March 2 was 1,776,000, an increase of 18,000 from the previous week's revised level.