U.S. Jobless Claims Hit Lowest Level in Nearly Four Years

New claims for U.S. unemployment benefits fell last week to their lowest level since March 2008, official data showed Thursday in a fresh sign of improvement in the troubled job market.

Initial jobless claims fell to 348,000 in the week ending Feb. 11, down 3.6% from the prior week, the Labor Department reported.

The decline in claims was much better than the 365,000 new filings analysts had expected.

Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2012