New claims for U.S. unemployment benefits fell last week by the most in more than three months, the government said in a report Thursday that could ease fears the labor-market recovery was stalling. The Labor Department reported that jobless claims fell 27,000 last week to 365,000. The four-week moving average of jobless claims, considered a better indicator of labor-market trends, rose 750 to 383,500, the highest level since December. Jobless claims are a measure of the pace of layoffs. When they fall below 375,000, it generally suggests that hiring will be strong enough to lower the unemployment rate, currently at 8.2 percent. Last month, jobless claims jumped after steadily declining since last autumn. At the same time, hiring slowed. The two developments sparked worries that the job market was worsening after strong gains during the winter.
