US Initial Jobless Claims Rise 22,000 To Highest Since August

The number of Americans filing first-time unemployment claims rose 22,000 last week to 231,000, reaching their highest since August, according to Labor Department data released Thursday.

The figure was much higher than estimates of 212,000.

The previous week's reading was revised from 208,000 to 209,000.

The four-week moving average was 215,000, an increase of 4,750 from the previous week's revised average.

The US economy added 175,000 jobs in April, while the unemployment rate rose to 3.9% from 3.8% in March. -