Jobless Claims Rise by 10,000 for Week

Initial jobless claims rose by 10,000 last week, but holiday closures prevented five states from completing a full count, the Labor Department said Thursday.

Applications for jobless benefits for the week ended Saturday increased to 354,000, Labor said.

The initial claims figure was higher than economists’ forecast of 340,000, Bloomberg News reported.

The four-week moving average, a less volatile measure, rose to 347,250 last week, from 340,000.

Continuing jobless claims for the previous week ended May 18 rose by 63,000 to 2.99 million.

Labor issued projections for Hawaii, Minnesota and Oregon. Virginia and Wyoming provided their own estimates.