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The number of U.S. workers filing for unemployment benefits for the first time rose by 3,000 in the week ended March 19, according to a Labor Department report. The increase pushed initial jobless claims to 324,000, Labor said.

The number of new home sales rose 9.4% in February to an annual rate of 1.226 million, the Commerce Department said Thursday.

The prices of oil and gasoline both rose in the aftermath of an explosion at a BP refinery in Texas City, Texas, Bloomberg News reported.

U.S. orders for durable goods rose by 0.3% in February, reversing a decline of 1.1% in the previous month, the Commerce Department reported Thursday.

The District of Columbia announced plans to install electronic truck-weight sensors on Interstate 295 as part of an effort to catch overweight trucks coming into the city, the Washington Times reported Thursday.

Heavy-duty component supplier Dana Corp. said Wednesday it was cutting its profit forecast for the first quarter because of rising steel prices and falling auto production.

By Dave Melton and Peter Van Dyne

Reports by the U.S. Department of Energy and the American Petroleum Institute both showed increases in the amount of crude oil the U.S. had on hand, but both groups said the country’s supplies of diesel and gasoline fell in the past week.

Governmental mandates may be needed to ensure protection of hazardous materials shipments, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration said in the agency's final version of its report on technologies to protect hazmat shipments.

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