WASHINGTON — Seasonally adjusted initial jobless claims jumped 27,000 to 412,000 for the week ending April 9, the highest level since Feb. 12, when they were 420,000, the Labor Department reported Thursday.
Continuing claims fell to 3.680 million for the week ending April 2, the lowest level since Sept. 27, 2008, when they were 3.636 million.
Economists had projected 380,000 initial claims and 3.70 million continuing claims, according to the median estimate from Thomson Reuters.