The fewest Americans in almost 44 years filed applications to collect unemployment benefits last week, indicating the job market continues to power forward. Jobless claims fell by 19,000 to 223,000 in the week ended Feb. 25, the fewest since March 1973 and exceeding the lowest projection in a Bloomberg survey of economists, a report from the Labor Department showed Thursday. The median forecast called for 245,000 applications. The weekly decline, which was the largest this year, shows employers are keeping dismissals at a minimum as demand remains steady and the labor market stays tight. Federal Reserve policy makers ... (full story)