The data from
the Labour Department revealed on
Thursday the number of applications for unemployment climbed more
than forecast last week.
According to
the report, the initial claims for unemployment benefits jumped by
9,000 to 221,000 for the week ended March
30. This was the highest weekly total since late January.
Economists had predicted
214,000 new claims last week.
Claims for the prior week
were revised upwardly to 212,000 from the original estimate of 210,000.
Meanwhile, the
four-week moving average of jobless claims increased to 214,250 from an upwardly revised 211,500 (from
211,000) in the previous week. This represented the highest count in seven weeks.
As for continuing claims, they fell to 1,791,000
from a downwardly revised 1,810,000 (from 1,819,000) in the previous week. This
marked the lowest reading since the week ended February 10 (~1,790,000).