The Latest Breaking News from Unemployment

The liberal Democratic Alliance, fighting to keep its place as South Africa's official opposition party, launched its electoral campaign Saturday ahead of a hotly contested vote, vowing to crush power cuts and slash high unemployment.

New applications for U.S. unemployment insurance benefits fell 9,000 for the week ending February 3 to a seasonally adjusted 218,000. The previous week’s figure was revised up by 3,000 to 227,000. The four-week moving average as of February 3 rose 3,750 from the previous week’s revised average to 212,250.

Despite efforts by the U.S. Federal Reserve to cool the economy, jobless claims remain low. Applications fell by 8,000 to 212,000 in the latest report.

The result, which is slightly above economists’ expectations, follows months of volatile labour market figures