Jobless Claims Rise, Defying Forecast

ByJohn S. McClenahen In a reminder that the road to U.S. economic recovery will have an occasional bump, initial claims for unemployment benefits rose to 383,000 for the week ending Feb. 16. That mark is 10,000 more than the unrevised figure of 373,000 for the previous week, reports the U.S. Labor Department. Economists generally expected jobless claims for the week ending Feb. 16 to continue their downward trend to 370,000. The actual mark was 13,000 above the consensus. Nevertheless, initial unemployment claims continue to run below 400,000 per week, suggesting some degree of labor stability.