Jobless Claims Rise for Week

Initial jobless claims rose by 27,000 last week, the Labor Department said Thursday.

Claims for the week ended Saturday increased to 640,000 from a revised 613,000 the previous week, Labor said.

The level was within the range of economists’ estimates, Bloomberg reported.

The four-week moving average, a less volatile measure, fell to 646,750, from 651,000 a week earlier.

The number of Americans collecting jobless benefits rose 93,000 to a record 6.14 million for the previous week ended April 11, the 12th straight weekly record, Labor said.