U.S. Unemployment Claims Rose to 770,000 Last Week
Worker filings for jobless benefits rose last week, pausing a downward trend amid other signs of recent labor-market improvement.
Unemployment claims, a proxy for layoffs, rose to 770,000 last week from an upwardly revised 725,000 a week earlier, the Labor Department said Thursday. Claims remain above the pre-pandemic peak of 695,000, but have broadly declined since January. The four-week moving average, which smooths out weekly volatility, fell last week.
Declining jobless claims are one sign of economic improvement. U.S. employers added 379,000 jobs in February, and the unemployment rate ticked...