Jobless Claims Rise 7,000 for Week

June 1, 2006 8:40 AM, EDT

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he number of Americans filing first-time unemployment claims rose by 7,000 last week to 336,000, the Labor Department said Thursday.

The level was above economists’ forecast of 320,000, Bloomberg reported.

The four-week moving average of claims, a less volatile measure, rose to 333,500, the highest since October, from 330,750 a week earlier.

Continuing jobless claims for the previous week ended May 20 rose to 2.433 million from 2.414 million a week earlier.