The number of Americans claiming jobless benefits for the first time grew by 21,000 last week as expected, government data showed on Thursday, while continued claims declined to their lowest level in four years.
Initial claims for state unemployment aid rose to 320,000, matching Wall Street forecasts, compared with a revised 299,000 the previous week, the Labor Department said. This number had initially been reported at 296,000. The total number of unemployed still on the benefit rolls after an initial week of aid dropped by 76,000 to 2.6 million in the week ended April 16, the latest week for which figures are available.
