Jobless Claims Rise for Week

Initial jobless claims rose by 11,000 last week, the Labor Department said Thursday.

The rise to 321,000 new claims was higher than economists’ forecasts of a gain to 315,000 from the previous week, Bloomberg reported.

The number of people on jobless rolls indicated strength in the job market, Bloomberg said.
 
The less-volatile four-week moving average fell to 315,750 from 317,250 the previous week.

The number of people continuing to collect benefits fell to 2.492 million for the previous week ended March 24, the lowest level since January, from 2.517 million a week earlier, Labor reported.