U.S. weekly jobless claims up 18,000 to 408,000

WASHINGTON (AFX) - Initial claims for regular state unemployment benefits rose 18,000 to a seasonally adjusted 408,000 for the week ended April 21, from a revised 390,000 in the previous week, the Labor Department said.	    This was the highest level of jobless claims since the week ended March 23, 1996.	    The increase in claims was higher than expected. The consensus forecast of Wall Street economists had expected jobless claims to rise 8,000 to 393,000.	    A Labor Department official said a big part of the increase in the week was due to New York state, where hourly employees in the school system were able to apply for jobless benefits during the spring break vacation.	    Jobless claims in the week ended April 14 were revised to show a decrease of 6,000 to 383,000 compared with the initial estimate of a fall of 10,000 to 385,000.	    The four-week moving average for initial jobless claims rose to 10,750 to 394,500. This is the highest level since the week ended Oct 10, 1992. 	    On an unadjusted basis, jobless claims totalled 368,142 in the week ending April 21, an increase of 17,463 from the previous week. There were 240,253 claims in the comparable week in 2000.	    The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 2.1 pct for the week ending April 14, an increase of 0.1 percentage point from the previous week. 

Related stock : (NIL)