U.S. unemployment applications linger at 4-year low

Applications for unemployment aid across the U.S. dropped 14,000 to a seasonally adjusted 351,000, matching a four-year low reached last month, according to a Labor Department report out this morning. The four-week average, which smoothes out some fluctuations in the weekly reports, was unchanged at 355,750. Applications have leveled off in the past few weeks after falling for six months. The average has declined 14% since October. When applications drop consistently below 375,000, it usually signals that hiring is strong enough to lower the unemployment rate. The steady decline in applications has coincided with the best three months of hiring in two years. From December through February, employers added an average of 245,000 jobs a month. The unemployment rate has declined to 8.3%, the lowest in three years. A separate Labor report out today says higher gas costs drove U.S. wholesale prices up last month. But excluding the big jump in gas, inflation was mostly tame. The producer price index rose 0.4% in February. The so-called core index, which excludes food and gas prices, increased 0.2%. In the past 12 months, wholesale prices have increased 3.3%. That’s the smallest year-over-year gain since August 2010.