Reuters: The number of Americans filing for jobless aid hit a two-month high last week and more applications were received in the prior week than initially reported, suggesting a cooling in the labor market recovery.
Initial claims for state unemployment benefits increased 13,000 last week to a seasonally adjusted 380,000, the Labor Department said on Thursday, defying economists’ expectations of a drop to 355,000. The prior week’s count was revised to show 10,000 more applications than previously reported.
While economists cautioned against reading too much into the report, saying problems adjusting the data for seasonal fluctuations around Easter may have pushed last week’s figure higher, they said it nonetheless provided a worrying signal… (more)
