America's jobs recovery didn't lose steam in the new year with a key measure of jobless claims dropping to its lowest level since March 1970, the Labor Department reported Thursday.

Continuing claims for unemployment benefits, which count people who have filed for jobless aid for at least two weeks in a row, dropped to just below 1.5 million in the week ending February 12, adjusted for seasonal swings, marking the lowest level since the week of March 14, 1970. It was also a lower level than economists had predicted. READ MORE