WASHINGTON – Initial jobless claims increased by 24,000 to 484,000 for the week ending April 10, the second straight weekly increase and the highest level since Feb. 20, the Labor Department reported today.
Continuing claims increased by 73,000 to 4.639 million.
Economists expected 440,000 initial claims and 4.520 million continuing claims, according to the median estimate from Thomson Reuters.
Initial claims for the week ending April 3 were unrevised at 460,000. Continuing claims were revised to 4.566 million from 4.550 million in the week ending March 27.
The increase in initial claims is mostly due to administrative factors at the state level, a Labor Department official said. Some state offices closed for the Easter holiday, and offices in California were closed on March 31 for the Cesar Chavez holiday.
Four states reported a decrease of more than 1,000 claims in the week ending April 3. Seven states reported an increase of more than 1,000 claims for that week.
Initial claims have fallen from a high of 651,000 claims set in March 2009 amid the worst of the current recession.
The four-week moving average for initial claims increased by 7,500 to 457,750. The four-week average for continuing claims decreased by 13,750 to 4,638,500.
