Instant View: Jobless claims fall, durable goods orders up

NEW YORK (Reuters) - First time applications for U.S. jobless benefits fell to 391,000 in the week ended February 19, down from 413,000 a week earlier.

The four-week moving average of claims dropped to 402,000, the lowest level since mid 2008.

Claims have been around 400,000 for several weeks now, having retreated sharply from peaks above 650,000 seen in early 2009.

The number of Americans remaining on the jobless rolls after the initial week of benefits declined by 145,000 to 3.79 million. The total number of overall benefit recipients, including those receiving assistance under an emergency federal program, edged down in the latest week but remained around 9.2 million.

New orders for long-lasting U.S. manufactured goods rose in January as aircraft bookings rocketed, but excluding transportation orders they recorded their largest decline in two years, according to the Commerce Dept.

Durable goods orders rose 2.7 percent, the biggest increase since September, after falling by a revised 0.4 percent last month. Excluding transportation, orders unexpectedly tumbled 3.6 percent after a revised 3.0 percent increase in December, which was previously reported as a 0.8 percent rise.

Outside transportation, there were big declines in orders for machinery, computers and communications equipment.

Non-defense capital goods orders excluding aircraft, a closely watched proxy for business spending, dropped 6.9 percent last month, the biggest decline in two years, after revised 4.3 percent increase in December.

ANALYSTS COMMENTS:

VIMOMBI NSHOM, ECONOMIST, IFR ECONOMICS, A UNIT OF THOMSON REUTERS:

"As claims fell nearly twice as much as seasonal factors had expected, the seasonally adjusted level is back down to the highly-praised, below the 400,000 figure that market squawkers love to reference when judging the significance of improvements in filing behavior. While the decline of 22,000 from the week prior is good news and sure to spark congratulatory comments among economists, claims' are published weekly and the short interval allows for 'bumpy' readings, so the upbeat sentiment will be cemented once a trend of below 400,000 levels is established."

TOM PORCELLI, U.S. ECONOMIST, RBC CAPITAL MARKETS, NEW YORK:

JOBLESS CLAIMS: "Even at 390,000, you're just looking at a level of claims that's now more consistent with the current level of job growth."

DURABLE GOODS

"The one thing I think people will probably want to focus on a little bit was the fact that the previous month was revised up a little bit--it seems cap-ex will be revised higher.

"We're starting off the first quarter--it's a weak start to the quarter but the bottom line is cap-ex is going to remain a pretty decent contributor to growth even with this weakness here in January."

ON BOTH CLAIMS AND DURABLE GOODS:

"I think it means steady as she goes from the Fed's perspective. These numbers will not change the Fed's view."

MARKET REACTION: STOCKS: U.S. stock futures held overnight losses after the data BONDS: U.S. bond prices were little changed FOREX: The U.S. dollar was little changed