New filings for unemployment claims held steady in the latest week but continuing claims remained elevated, according to a government report released Thursday. Initial filings for state jobless benefits came in at 353,000 in the week ended March 8, unchanged from the upwardly revised figure for the previous week, according to the Labor Department. New claims were originally reported to be 351,000 for the week ended March 1. The consensus estimate of economists surveyed by Briefing.com was for initial claims to rise 4,000 to 355,000.
See "New jobless claims hold steady", Catherine Clifford, CNN Money, March 12, 2008