For the week ending April 23, the seasonally adjusted figure for U.S. initial claims for unemployment insurance rose to 320,000, an increase of 21,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 299,000, the U.S. Labor Department reported on April 28.
Last week's rise returns the jobless claims figure to a level that, if it is sustained, seems consistent with the creation of about 150,000 new nonfarm jobs per month, just enough to offset population growth.
The department's four-week moving average for initial claims, which smooths out week-to-week changes, fell by 8,000 last week to 323,000.
