The number of Americans filing first-time unemployment claims fell 9,000 last week to 202,000, according to the US Labor Department data released Thursday.
The markets had expected the claims to rise to 212,000, following the previous week's upwardly revised 211,000.
The four-week moving average was 207,750 — a fall of 3,000 from the previous week's upwardly revised 210,750.
The US economy lost 92,000 jobs in February, much worse than expectations of a 59,00 gain.
The unemployment rate fell to 4.4% from 4.3% in January.
