U.S. Jobless Claims Rose to 744,000 Last Week

Worker filings for jobless claims rose to 744,000 last week, pausing a downward trend amid other signs of recent labor-market improvement.

Initial claims unemployment benefits, a proxy for layoffs, increased by a seasonally adjusted 16,000 last week from an upwardly revised 728,000 the prior week, the Labor Department said Thursday. The four-week average, which smooths out volatility in the figures, rose slightly to 723,750 from 721,250.

Despite the increase, claims remain close to the lowest point since mid-March of last year, when the pandemic triggered millions of layoffs. Claims are...