Initial jobless claims jumped higher than expected last week, breaking a series of weekly declines that had brought it to multi-year lows, the U.S. Labor Department reported Thursday.
Jobless claims surged by 32,000, totaling 360,000 in the week ended May 11.
That was much more than expected. A consensus of economists surveyed by Briefing.com had forecast 330,000 jobless claims for that week.
Last week, jobless claims fell to a five-year low.
The jobless claims number represents the tally of people filing for unemployment insurance for the first time. According to the latest monthly jobs report, 11.7 million people remained unemployed in April, with an unemployment rate of 7.5%.
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