Jobless Claims Rise After 3-Week Decline
From Associated Press
New claims for unemployment benefits increased last week after three straight weeks of declines, the Labor Department said.
New applications filed for unemployment benefits rose to 353,000, an increase of 14,000 for the week ended Jan. 3. That compared with 339,000 new applications in the previous week.
Economists said last week’s rise in claims probably was because of the holidays, including less time for people to file for unemployment benefits the week of Christmas and layoffs from temporary holiday jobs.
The more stable four-week moving average of claims, which smooths out week-to-week fluctuations, fell 5,500 to 350,250 last week. That was the lowest level since Feb. 3, 2001.
