Fewer Workers Filing for Unemployment Claims

But businesses stagnant on both hiring and firing

Claims for U.S. unemployment insurance payments fell last week, returning to levels seen in the second half of 2012.

Applications for jobless benefits dropped 5,000 to 366,000 in the week ended Feb. 2, Labor Department figures showed today. Economists forecast 360,000 claims, according to the median of 53 estimates in a Bloomberg survey.

Claims, after seesawing in prior weeks as the government had trouble adjusting the data for seasonal swings, are settling at a level that signals there is little change in the pace of firings from last year. The data come after a report last week indicated employers are boosting payrolls at a faster pace as demand holds up.