Jobless Claims At 3 Year Low There were 368,Cheap Polo Ralph Lauren,000 initial jobless claims filed in the week ended Feb. 26, the Labor Department said Thursday. That was down 20,000 from the week before, and the lowest since May 2008. Economists surveyed by Briefing.com had expected initial claims to rise to 400,000 in the latest report. The 4-week moving average of initial claims, which aims to smooth out volatility, also improved, falling to 388,500 from the previous week's revised average of 401,250. The four-week average for applications, a less volatile figure, fell last week to 388,500. That's the lowest level since July 2008, the last time the four-week average was below 400,000. Economists say applications that remain consistently below 375,http://www.bluedesert.us/,000 tend to signal declines in the unemployment rate. Applications for benefits peaked during the recession at 651,Polo Ralph Lauren Outlet,000.The downward trend in applications suggests that companies are easing the pace of layoffs now that the economy is gaining momentum. During the recession, companies slashed work forces, cut or froze workers' pay and took other aggressive steps to reduce costs. Companies are expected to increase hiring in the month ahead. Employers probably added 175,000 new jobs in February, economists predict. That would mark an improvement from an anemic 36,000 in January when snowstorms and bad weather hurt job gains. The government releases the employment report for February on Friday. At the same time, economists think the unemployment rate edged up to 9.1 percent in February as more jobseekers -- perhaps feeling better about their prospects -- stream into the labor market looking for work.For more information just click this link STROUT INVESTMENTS