Initial jobless claims climbed 2,000 to 304,000 in the week ended April 12, the Labor Department said Thursday.
Claims for the week ended April 5 were revised to 302,000 from the 300,000 initially reported.
Continuing jobless claims were 2.739 million in the week ended April 5, down from the downwardly revised 2.750 million the week before, first reported as 2.776 million.
Economists polled by Thomson Reuters expected 311,000 initial and 2.790 million continuing claims.
The four-week average of initial claims were down 4,750 in the week ended April 12 to 312,000.
