Jobless Claims Rise 16,000 for Week
Initial jobless claims rose by 16,000 last week, the Labor Department reported April 3.
Applications for jobless benefits for the week ended March 29 rose to a five-week high of 326,000 from the previous week, Labor said.
Economists had forecast 319,000 new claims, Bloomberg News reported.
The four-week moving average, a less volatile measure, was little changed at 319,500.
The number of people continuing to receive jobless benefits rose by 22,000 to 2.84 million in the previous week ended March 22.