Jobless claims down in week

WASHINGTON, March 1 (UPI) -- The four-week moving average of first-time unemployment benefits dropped by 2,000 to 351,000 in the week ending Saturday, the U.S. Labor Department said.

The four-week rolling average for initial benefit claims also dropped, declining by 5,500 to 354,000.

The U.S. unemployment rate was 8.3 percent in January, down from 8.5 percent in December.

In the week ending Feb. 11, the highest insured unemployment rates were in Alaska at 6.5 percent, Pennsylvania at 4.9 percent and Montana at 4.7 percent.

In the week ending Feb. 18, the state with the largest increases in initial claims was Iowa with 438 more claims than the previous week. Florida had the largest decrease with 2,121 fewer first-time claims.