According to the US Department of Labor, in the week ending March 1, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 323,000, a decrease of 26,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 349,000. The 4-week moving average was 336,500, a decrease of 2,000 from the previous week's revised average of 338,500.

In other news, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said that nonfarm business sector labor productivity increased at a 1.8 percent annual rate during the fourth quarter of 2013. The increase in productivity reflects increases of 3.4 percent in output and 1.6 percent in hours worked.

For MarketNewsVideo.com, I'm Sayoko Murase.