US Jobless Claims Ticked Down to 213,000 Last Week (3)

Applications for US unemployment benefits edged down last week, indicating layoffs remain contained.

Initial claims decreased by 1,000 to 213,000 in the week ended March 7, according to Labor Department data released Thursday. The median forecast in a Bloomberg survey of economists called for 215,000.

New claims have remained fairly subdued, even as an increasing number of companies have announced job cuts this year. In the past couple of weeks alone, Oracle Corp., Morgan Stanley, and Jack Dorsey’s Block Inc. all said they would reduce their workforce.

“The level of claims is just very low, plain and ...