U.S. initial jobless claims decreased slightly last week, signaling that layoffs remain moderate. The Department of Labor reported that claims for the week ending March 7 totaled 213,000, down from 214,000 the previous week and below the market expectation of 215,000. Continuing claims also fell to 1.85 million from 1.87 million. This data follows a weaker-than-expected jobs report showing a net loss of 92,000 jobs in February, after a gain of 126,000 in January. Despite the job losses, the modest decline in initial jobless claims suggests that companies are opting to retain employees rather than resort to large-scale layoffs.