Initial Jobless Claims Reach 7-Year High

First-time unemployment claims reached the highest level in seven years last week, and the number of people on unemployment rolls reached the highest level in 25 years, the Labor Department said Thursday.

Initial jobless claims jumped by 32,000 for the week ended Saturday from the previous week, to 516,000, Labor said.

Analysts had forecast 480,000 claims for the week, Bloomberg reported.

The four-week moving average, a less volatile measure, rose to 491,500, the highest since March 1991, from 477,750 a week ago.

The number of continuing claims rose to 3.897 million, for the previous week ended Nov. 1, Labor said.