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April 10, 2003 10:00 AM, EDT

The government reported Thursday that jobless claims remained above a point that signals labor market weakness, while the country's February international trade gap narrowed as U.S. consumers bought less from abroad while U.S. firms sold more goods overseas.

The Labor Department initial jobless claims fell 38,000 to 405,000 in the week ended April 5, but stayed about the 400,000-level for an eighth straight week.

Economists see the 400,000 level as a sign of a weak job market.

Labor said that the four-week moving average, which removes the volatility from the weekly statistics, fell to 419,000 from 423,250 the previous week.

The Commerce Department said the trade gap between the United States and the rest of the world narrowed to $40.3 billion in February from January's $41.2 billion.

Imports fell 0.4% to $122.8 billion in February, Commerce said, while exports rose 0.5% to $82.4 billion.

Labor also reported that March import prices rose just 0.5%, as oil prices declined with the onset of the U.S. war on Iraq. During the previous month, spiking fuel prices had driven up overal import prices by 1.7%.

The prices of export goods rose 0.3% in March, after a 0.5% increase in February, Labor said.