Jobless Claims Rise by 28,000 for Week

Initial jobless claims rose by 28,000 last week, the Labor Department said Thursday.

Applications for jobless benefits for the week ended Saturday rose to 385,000, Labor said.

The initial claims figure was higher than economists’ forecast of 353,000, Bloomberg News reported.

The four-week moving average, a less volatile measure, rose to 354,000 last week, from 343,000.

Continuing jobless claims for the previous week ended March 23 fell by 8,000 to 3.06 million.