In the week ending March 23, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 357,000, an increase of 16,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 341,000. The 4-week moving average was 343,000, an increase of 2,250 from the previous week's revised average of 340,750. The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 2.4 percent for the week ending March 16, unchanged from the prior week's unrevised rate. The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending March 16 was 3,050,000, a decrease of 27,000 from the preceding week's revised level of 3,077,000. ... (full story)