U.S. Weekly Jobless Claims Climb More Than Expected

(RTTNews) - The Labor Department released a report on Thursday showing first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits rose by more than expected in the week ended April 4th.

The report said initial jobless claims climbed to 219,000, an increase of 16,000 from the previous week's revised level of 203,000.

Economists had expected jobless claims to rise to 210,000 from the 202,000 originally reported for the previous month.

The Labor Department said the less volatile four-week moving average also crept up to 209,500, an increase of 1,500 from the previous week's revised average of 208,000.