Employment Picture Brightens Up

March 14, 2002 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - The latest data release from the Department of Labor (DoL) shows a slow but steady recovery in the US labor market.

The number of US workers filing for unemployment benefits for the first time inched down in the week ending March 9, to a seasonally adjusted 377,000 from 380,000 the previous week, according to the DoL.
 
However, the four-week moving average, a more reliable measure of the unemployment situation because it smoothes out weekly fluctuation, edged up slightly to 374,750 from 373,750 a week earlier.

These levels were more or less in line with the expectations of economists polled by Reuters.

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