Jobless Claims Rise; Continuing Claims Reach Record

Initial jobless claims rose by 12,000 last week and continuing claims reached a new record, the Labor Department said Thursday.

Claims for the week rose to 669,000, Labor said in its weekly report. Economists had forecast a decline to 650,000, Bloomberg reported.

The number of Americans collecting jobless benefits jumped to a record 5.73 million in the previous week ended March 21, from 5.57 million a week earlier.

The four-week moving average, a less volatile measure, rose to 656,750, from 650,250 a week earlier.

Labor will release the March unemployment rate Friday morning in Washington, with some forecasters predicting an 8.5% rate, from January's 8.1%, Bloomberg said.