U.S. labor data mixed on eve of job report

Labor market data were mixed the day before a closely watched U.S. job report for February, which is due today.

The number of workers filing initial claims for jobless benefits fell 10,000 to a seasonally adjusted 328,000 last week, the Labor Department said.

But the four-week moving average of claims, a better look at the underlying trend, climbed to 339,000, its highest since an equal level in October 2005.

Economists expect the unemployment rate to come in unchanged at 4.6%.