Jobless claims hit lowest level since January

Jobless claims fell sharply last week as employers maintained their brisk pace of hiring.

First-time applications for unemployment benefits plummeted 20,000 to a seasonally adjusted 268,000, the lowest level since late January, the Labor Department said Thursday.

The less volatile four-week average, which is a better indicator of the labor market’s health, fell 14,750 to 285,500.

All signs point to employers remaining bullish on hiring despite slower economic growth during the first three months of the year.

{mosads}Analysts say a combination of severe winter weather, the surging dollar and falling oil prices pushed down economic growth to a 1 percent pace in the January-March quarter.

The slowdown was reflected in a private-sector report that showed employers added only 189,000 jobs in March, ADP said Wednesday.

It was the first time since January 2014 that monthly jobs growth fell below the 200,000 mark.

Jobless claims below 300,000 signal a strong labor market expansion and monthly job growth of about 250,000 a month.

The government’s unemployment report for March will be released Friday, and could be weaker than expected.

Mark Zandi, chief economist with Moody’s Analytics, said Wednesday he is now expecting about 200,000 jobs were added in March, down from his initial estimate of 250,000.

But forecasts vary from Zandi’s estimate to a robust 265,000, which is still below the 295,000 added in February.

The unemployment rate should hold at about 5.5 percent, which is the lowest level since 2008.

The economy added more than 3 million jobs last year — the most since 1999 — and is on track for similar production in 2015, economists estimate.

Average monthly growth came in around 300,000 jobs over the past six months.