Weekly jobless claims off sharply

WASHINGTON, Feb. 14 (UPI) -- The U.S. Labor Department said first-time jobless benefits claims fell by 27,000 to 341,000 in the week that ended Saturday.

Initial claims for unemployment benefits dropped from 368,000, a figure revised from the 371,000 announced last Thursday.

The four-week rolling average for the week rose 352,500, up 1,500 from the previous week.

The unadjusted advance number of first-time unemployment benefits claims under state programs totaled 359,428 for the week, a 29,014 decrease from the previous week, the Labor Department said.

For the comparable week of 2012, there were 365,014 initial claims.