The number of Americans signing up for initial jobless benefits fell much more than expected last week, suggesting the labour market was healing, though only slowly.
A separate report showed manufacturing in the US mid-Atlantic region expanded briskly this month, although the pace eased from January's two-decade high and factories remained cautious on hiring.
The Labour Department said yesterday that first-time claims for state unemployment aid dropped 24,000 to 344,000 in the week ended February 14.
It was the largest drop in claims since November and more than double what Wall Street had expected. Markets had looked for claims to fall to 353,000 from the 363,000 originally reported for the previous week.
A department official suggested warmer weather helped fuel last week's drop, which followed two weeks in which cold weather in the Southeast had kept construction workers idle.
Separately, the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia said its monthly gauge of regional industry slipped to 31.4 in February from 38.8 last month. Its employment index slipped to 12.5 from 17.5 in January.
In a third report published yesterday, the Conference Board, a private research group, said its index of leading economic indicators, a gauge of future economic activity, rose 0.5% last month.
The Board said it was the biggest gain in the index since October and suggested a sustained recovery. However, it warned that consumer confidence could stumble if the labour market failed to strengthen.
