Initial claims for the week ending March 16 decreased by 9,000 to 221,000 (Briefing.com consensus 223,000) while continuing claims for the week ending March 9 dropped by 27,000 to 1.750 million.

The four-week moving average for initial claims increased by 1,000 to 225,000.

The four-week moving average for continuing claims increased by 6,000 to 1,772,500.

Initial claims have held below 300,000 for 211 consecutive weeks.

The key takeaway from the report is that it covers the period in which the survey for the March employment situation report was conducted, so with the low level of initial claims, expectations will pick up that March nonfarm payrolls will be up by a solid amount.