New jobless claims unexpectedly rise for first time since April

The number of Americans seeking new jobless claims rose last week, shattering six straight weeks of declines, the feds said Thursday.

New filings for jobless claims, seen as a proxy for layoffs, rose to 412,000 last week, up from a revised estimate of 375,000 reported the prior week, according to data released Thursday by the Labor Department. The surprise increase ends six straight weeks of steady declines in new claims. While far below the number of weekly new claims reported last year, initial claims still remain substantially higher than pre-pandemic levels. The country was averaging just over 200,000 new claims per week in 2019.