Americans filing for unemployment benefits rose in number more than expected last week, posting the biggest gain in more than a year, but experts say the underlying trend continued to point to a strengthening labour market.
Initial claims for state unemployment benefits increased 17,000 to a seasonally adjusted 274,000 for the week ended April 30, according to figures released by the U.S. Labor Department on Thursday. Last week's increase was the largest since February 2015.
Claims for the prior week were unrevised. Economists had forecast initial claims rising to 260,000 in the latest week. Jobless claims have now been below 300,000, a threshold associated with healthy labor market conditions, for 61 consecutive weeks, the longest stretch since 1973.
A department analyst said there were no special factors influencing last week's claims data and only claims for the District of Columbia had been estimated.
The four-week moving average of claims, considered a better measure of labor market trends as it irons out week-to-week volatility, rose 2,000 to 258,000 last week.
The latest claims data has no bearing on Friday's employment report for April as it falls outside the survey period.
