US Jobless Claims Increase to 239,000, Led by Jump in California
- Applications for benefits rose for first time in three weeks
- California made up over a third of rise in unadjusted data
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Applications for US unemployment benefits rose for the first time in three weeks, largely due to a jump in California and suggesting some more softening in the labor market.
Initial unemployment claims rose by 11,000 to 239,000 in the week ended April 8, Labor Department data showed Thursday. The median forecast in a Bloomberg survey of economists was for 235,000 applications.