U.S. initial jobless claims rise by 28,000 to 385,000 last week

The number of people who filed for unemployment assistance in the U.S. rose more-than-expected last week, hitting a 16-week high, official data showed on Thursday. 

In a report, the U.S. Department of Labor said the number of individuals filing for initial jobless benefits in the week ending March 30 rose by 28,000 to a seasonally adjusted 385,000, compared to expectations for an decrease of 7,000 to 350,000.

Jobless claims for the preceding week rose by an unrevised 357,000.

Continuing jobless claims in the week ended March 23 fell to 3.063 million.  Analysts had expected continuing claims to fall to 3.050 million from last week’s revised figure of 3.071 million.

The four-week moving average was 354,250, an increase of 11,250 from the previous week's revised average of 343,000.

The monthly average is seen as a more accurate gauge of labor trends because it reduces volatility in the week-to-week data.

Following the release of the data, the U.S. dollar held on to gains against the euro, with EUR/USD shedding 0.18% to trade at 1.2827.

Meanwhile, U.S. stock index futures remained higher. The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures pointed to an increase of 0.2% at the open, S&P 500 futures indicated a gain of 0.2%, while the Nasdaq 100 futures signaled a 0.2% rise. 

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