(Rachel Maddow Blog)

(Rachel Maddow Blog)

Initial claims for unemployment benefits have now been below 400,000 for 24 consecutive weeks and are at their lowest level since the week of April 19, 2008. The Department of Labor announced Thursday morning that for the week ending March 31, seasonally adjusted initial claims was 357,000. That's down 6,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 363,000. The four-week running average, which analysts prefer because it flattens volatility of the weekly figure, fell 4,250 to 361,750 from the previous week's revised average of 366,000.

For all programs, including the emergency extension of benefits from the federal government, the total number of people claiming benefits for the week ending March 17 was 7,050,709, a decrease of 107,760. As the payroll-tax deal in Congress takes effect between now and September, those numbers are expected to fall sharply because the allowable number of weeks of benefits will drop from 99 to 63 in those states hardest hit by the recession. But while the numbers claiming benefit will fall, that won't, in and of itself, indicate a healthier job market, just more people with empty pockets.

The monthly report on jobs from the Bureau of Labor Statistics will be released Friday. Analysts are forecasting that about 205,000 seasonally adjusted new jobs were created in March. A report from ADP Employer Services released Wednesday found that private payrolls grew by 209,000 in March. The BLS report includes public sector hiring as well and is not always a good match with the ADP report.



“A wide range of indicators suggests that the job market has been improving, which is a welcome development indeed,” Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said last week. “Still, conditions remain far from normal, as shown, for example, by the high level of long-term unemployment and the fact that jobs and hours worked remain well below pre-crisis peaks.”

The number of long-term unemployed—jobless for 27 weeks and over—was 5.4 million in February.