US Jobless Claims Stay Low in Sign of Steadying Labor Market

Job seekers speak with recruiters during a job fair in Sacramento, California.

Photographer: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg

Applications for US unemployment benefits held steady last week, adding to evidence that the labor market is stabilizing.

Initial claims were unchanged at 213,000 in the week ended Feb. 28, according to Labor Department data released Thursday. The median forecast in a Bloomberg survey of economists called for 215,000.