U.S. Weekly Jobless Claims Inch Up To 223,000, In Line With Estimates

(RTTNews) - A report released by the Labor Department on Thursday showed first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits crept slightly higher in the week ended April 5th.

The Labor Department said initial jobless claims inched up to 223,000, an increase of 4,000 from the previous week's unrevised level of 219,000. The uptick by initial jobless claims came in line economist estimates.

Meanwhile, the report said the less volatile four-week moving average of initial jobless claims was 223,000, unchanged from the previous week's unrevised average of 223,000.

The Labor Department also said continuing claims, a reading on the number of people receiving ongoing unemployment assistance, fell by 42,000 to 1.850 million in the week ended March 29th.

The four-week moving average of continuing claims also edged down to 1,867,750, a decrease of 250 from the previous week's revised average of 1,868,000.

A more closely watched report released by the Labor Department last Friday showed employment in the U.S. surged by much more than expected in the month of March.

The Labor Department said non-farm payroll employment jumped by 228,000 jobs in March after climbing by a downwardly revised 117,000 jobs in February.

Economists had expected employment to rise by 135,000 jobs compared to the addition of 151,000 jobs originally reported for the previous month.

At the same time, the report said the unemployment rate crept up to 4.2 percent in March from 4.1 percent in February. The unemployment rate was expected to remain unchanged.