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Initial jobless claims rise
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February 18, 1999: 9:13 a.m. ET
But 4-week moving average falls to lowest level since 1989
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - The crowds at the unemployment claims office got a little larger in the week ended Feb 13, according to a report issued by the U.S. Department of Labor Thursday.
Initial jobless claims climbed by 4,000 to 288,000 from a revised figure of 284,000 reported for the week of Feb. 6. The increase fell short of economists' expectations, which had put new claims at 290,000.
But the four-week moving average, considered a more accurate measure of employment trends, fell by 6,750 to 292,000, the lowest level since 1989. The figure for the previous week was revised to 298,750.
Continuing claims also declined, falling by 12,000 to 2,262,000 for the week ended Feb. 6 from a revised 2,274,000 in the prior week.
"Any weekly jobless number less that 300,000 indicates a continuing tight labor market," Rosanne Cahn, chief economists at CS First Boston, told CNNfn's "Before Hours."
"There is a slowdown in job growth, but no big layoffs and no big rise in unemployment," she added, pointing out that there had been little adverse effect on consumer spending.
Soon after the jobless figures were released, the benchmark 30-year U.S. Treasury bond climbed slightly, trading up 1/16 for a yield of 5.25 percent. 
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