Economics

New Jobless Claims Climb to Four-Month High

A once-again unexpected development

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First-time jobless claims unexpectedly climbed to a four-month high last week, the Labor Department said Thursday, providing more evidence that the economic recovery might be heading into another spring slowdown.

The number of people filing initial claims for unemployment benefits rose to 385,000 for the week ending Saturday, an increase of 28,000 from the previous week's revised figure, the Labor Department said.

Economists polled by Bloomberg had estimated that claims dropped slightly last week to 353,000.