U.S. Jobless Claims Fall, Trade Deficit Widens New claims for unemployment benefits in the United States unexpectedly edged down last week, according to government data Thursday, and the decline could ease some concerns that the labor market was deteriorating after April's weak employment growth. Separately, the government said the United States trade deficit widened more than expected in March. Initial claims for state jobless benefits slipped 1,000 to a seasonally adjusted 367,000, the Labor Department said. The prior week's figure was revised up to 368,000 from the previously reported 365,000. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast claims inching up to 369,000 last week. The four-week moving average for new claims, considered a better measure of labor market trends, fell 5,250 to 379,000. Coming on the heels of April's sluggish employment gains, the claims data could calm fears the labor market was stagnating. Companies added a meager 115,000 new jobs to their payrolls in April, the fewest in six months, the government reported last Friday. Most economists have viewed the pullback in job creation as fallout of the weather-induced gains in the previous months and believe the underlying pace of payrolls growth is around 175,000 - the monthly average for the past three months. Even Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke last month said an unseasonably warm winter had probably brought forward some of the hiring by companies, artificially boosting payrolls in January and February. The Commerce Department said the trade deficit widened in March as imports surged to a record high, and the data could be another sign the government may have to scale back its estimate of first-quarter economic growth. The trade gap grew 14.1 percent to $51.8 billion, the biggest jump in nearly a year, even though exports also hit a record high, the report showed. Economists polled by Reuters had expected the trade gap to widen to about $50.0 billion. The bigger-than-expected rise follows government data on Wednesday that showed wholesale inventories grew less than expected in March, leaving analysts to conclude the government would likely lower its first-quarter estimate of gross domestic product from the 2.2 percent rate it reported last month. Overall imports grew 5.2 percent in March, the biggest gain since January 2011, to $238.6 billion. Record highs were set in both goods and services, with imports of automotive products and capital goods also setting record highs. Imports from the European Union and Mexico also set records, while imports from Canada were the highest since September 2008 and from Japan the highest since October 2007. Higher oil prices also added to the import tally, as average prices for imported oil rose to $107.95 per barrel. Imports from China, the United States' largest foreign supplier, rose 12 percent in March to $31.5 billion. Exports from the United States had another good month, rising 2.9 percent to a record $186.8 billion. Exports of goods and two subcategories - industrial supplies and capital goods - also hit record highs in what could be seen as good news for the American manufacturing sector. U.S. exports to the 27-nation European Union also set a record, despite signs of a recession in the euro -zone that could crimp future demand. Exports to Canada and Mexico also hit record highs, as did exports to South Korea.