WASHINGTON – Seasonally adjusted initial jobless claims declined to 386,000 for the week ending April 14, while continuing claims rose to 3.297 million for the previous week, the Labor Department reported Thursday.
The 386,000 of initial claims were down 2,000 from the previous week's upwardly revised level of 388,000, originally reported as 380,000.
Continuing claims rose 26,000 from the previous week's revised level of 3.271 million for the week ending April 7, originally reported as 3.251 million.
The 386,000 of initial claims were higher than the median estimate of 370,000 projected by economists polled by Thomson Reuters, and the 3.297 million of continuing claims were higher than their median estimate of 3.290 million.
The four-week moving average for initial claims was 374,750, the highest since Jan. 28 when it was 376,750. That figure was up 5,500 from the previous week's revised average of 369,250, originally reported as 368,500.
The four-week moving average for continuing claims was 3.318 million, the lowest since Aug. 9, 2008, when it was 3.288 million. The figure was 21,500 lower than the preceding week's revised average of 3.339 million, originally reported as 3.334 million.
The Labor Department estimated data for Alaska.
