RJ and Makay

In a surprise setback on the economic front, new orders for long-lasting manufactured goods — durables — fell in February, suggesting some unexpected softness in manufacturing activity and business investment plans. However, recent labor market gains are persisting, as indicated by a decline in new jobless benefit claims last week and in the four-week average for such claims to its lowest level in more than two-and-a-half years.

According to the Commerce Department, durable goods orders fell 0.9% in February after rising 3.6% in January. Economists polled by Reuters had expected durables orders to increase 1.1% last month. Excluding transportation, such orders fell 0.6% after declining 3.0% in January.

Here's the sort of good news about the job market we've heard a lot over past couple months. Last week, new applications for state unemployment benefits fell by 16,000 to 385,000. The decline beat the predictions of economists, who thought initial jobless claims would drop to a seasonally adjusted 389,000 in the week ended March 12.

Furthermore, first-time claims for unemployment benefits averaged 386,250 in the past four weeks — the lowest level since July 2008. The four-week average is a more accurate measure of employment trends because it smoothes out weekly variation in jobless claims data.