Economists generally expected last week's initial claims for unemployment insurance to total 330,000. And that's exactly what they were, according to U.S. Labor Department data released on April 14. The total for the week ending April 9 was 10,000 less than the previous week's revised figure of 340,000.
The department's four-week moving average for initial claims, however, rose slightly last week. It was 338,000, an increase of 250 claims from the previous week's revised average of 337,750.
