market conditions—for 55 weeks, the longest stretch since 1973. With the labor market tightening, there is little room for significant further declines in claims. The four-week moving average of jobless claims—considered a better gauge of labor-market trends because it smoothes weekly volatility—rose 3,500 to 263,250 last week. The report also showed the number of people receiving unemployment benefits fell 7,000 to 2.17 million last week, the lowest level since mid-October. The total number of unemployment-aid recipients has fallen 6.3 percent over the past 12 months. The jobless-claims report has no bearing on Friday's job-creation report for March, which is expected to show about 200,000 new jobs and unemployment holding steady at 4.9 percent.
