WASHINGTON, Feb. 21 (Xinhua) -- The number of initial jobless claims dropped last week in the United States, according to a report released by the Labor department on Thursday.
In the week ending Feb. 16, the number of people filing for U.S. unemployment benefits dropped by 23,000 to 216,000 from previous week's unrevised figure of 239,000, said the report.
The reading of jobless claims was still below the 300,000 threshold, which signals a tight labor market in the United States.
The reading once reached 202,000 in mid-September 2018, which was the lowest level since December 1969.
Labor department's report also showed that four-week average of initial claims increased by 4,000 to 235,750 last week.
For the whole picture of the job market, the U.S. economy added a higher-than-expected 304,000 jobs in January while the unemployment rate edged up to 4 percent, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said on Feb. 1.
Even though the unemployment rate remained at a low level, the U.S. Federal Reserve (Fed) signaled a slower pace of tightening due to rising volatility and uncertainties.
Almost all policymakers in the Fed agreed to announce a plan to stop balance sheet normalization this year, according to the minutes of the Fed's latest monetary policy meeting released on Wednesday. Enditem
