Analysis: The number of initial jobless claims in the United States declined slightly, indicating that the scale of layoffs was moderate.

U.S. initial jobless claims fell last week, indicating that corporate layoffs remain limited. The U.S. Labor Department said Thursday that initial jobless claims for the week ending March 7 were 213,000, down from 214,000 the previous week and below market expectations of 215,000. Continuing jobless claims for the week ending February 28 fell to 1.85 million, down from 1.87 million the previous week. Thursday's initial jobless claims data came after the Labor Department released a weaker-than-expected jobs report last week, showing a loss of 92,000 jobs in the previous month, compared to an increase of 126,000 in January. However, the relatively mild initial jobless claims data suggests that companies are more inclined to retain employees than to implement large-scale layoffs. (Jinshi)