Jobless Rolls Hit Two-and-a-Half-Year High

Initial jobless claims were unchanged last week but the number of people on jobless rolls hit a two-and-a-half-year high, the Labor Department said Thursday.

Initial claims held at 353,000 for the week ended Saturday, Labor said. Weekly claims were forecast to rise to 357,000, Bloomberg reported.

The number of people continuing to collect unemployment benefits rose to 2.835 million for the previous week ended March 1, from 2.828 million the previous week.