Jobless Claims Rise by 15,000

Initial jobless claims rose by 15,000 last week, the Labor Department said Thursday.

The gain to 311,000 new claims was higher than economists’ forecasts 305,000, Bloomberg reported.

The less-volatile four-week moving average fell to 302,750, the lowest in a year.

The number of people continuing to collect benefits rose to 2.529 million for the previous week ended May 12, from 2.471 million a week earlier, Labor reported.