Jobless claims dip in latest week

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- The number of Americans filing initial claims for unemployment insurance fell last week, edging off recent highs, according to a government report released Thursday.

For the week ended Feb. 28, 639,000 Americans filed initial jobless claims, down 31,000 from the 670,000 claims reported the previous week.

Economists polled by Briefing.com expected 650,000 claims.

The 4-week moving average of initial claims increased by 2,000 to 641,750 from the previous week.

The number of Americans continuing on unemployment insurance dropped by 14,000 to 5,106,000, edging off the record high set the prior week.

The data is from the week ended Feb. 21, the most recent data available.

The 4-week moving average for people continuing on unemployment jumped by 76,750 to 5,011,000.

Although the number of initial claims filed was a bit lower than expected, the report shows a tough job market that's keeping more Americans out of work longer, according to Joshua Shapiro, an economist at Maria Fiorini Ramirez Inc., in New York.

The week's drop off in claims may not offer much hope for improvement in the near future, according to Ian Shepherdson, Chief U.S. Economist with High Frequency Economics.

"The leveling off in claims is usually one of the very first indicators of impending economic upturns, but there is no sign at all of that yet and nor do we expect any until the summer at the earliest," Shepherdson wrote in a note.

The insured unemployment rate is 3.8%, compared to the 2.1% rate a year ago.

Stimulus: The stimulus bill that President Obama signed into law last month has several provisions that help those living on unemployment benefits.

The weekly unemployment benefit will temporarily increase by $25 on top of the roughly $300 jobless workers currently receive.

In addition, the first $2,400 of benefits in 2009 would be exempt from federal income taxes.