Jobless Claims Jump for Week

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he number of Americans filing first-time unemployment claims jumped by 42,000 last week, in part due to a government shutdown in Puerto Rico that has been resolved, the Labor Department said Thursday.

The claims level of 367,000 was above economists’ forecast of a decline to 300,000 to 340,000, Bloomberg reported.

The four-week moving average of claims, a less volatile measure, rose to 333,250 from 317,500 a week earlier.

Continuing jobless claims for the previous week ended May 6 rose to 2.389 million from a five-year low of 2.381 million a week earlier.