Unemployment claims fell by 7,000 filings with 340,000 U.S. citizens filing for jobless benefits during the week ending March 2, the Labor Department said.

As a whole, the 4-week unemployment claims moving average hit 348,750 filings, a decline of 7,000 filings from the previous week's average of 355,750 claims.

The total number of people claiming uninsured benefits in state programs totaled 3.5 million, a rise of nearly 53,000 filings from the previous week.

Overall, the amount of people claiming benefits in all programs for the week ending Feb. 16 reached 5.4 million, a decline of 362,000 filings from the prior week.

"Jobless claims are coming down, very slowly but they're now at their lowest levels of the recovery," analysts with Econoday wrote. "The four-week average, down 7,000 to 348,750, is at its lowest level since March 2008. The average is also slightly lower than the month-ago comparison which points to improvement in the labor market."