Washington, DC, Feb. 26--Initial jobless claims climbed by 6,000 last week to a seasonally adjusted 350,000, the Labor Department reported Thursday.
That followed a drop of 24,000 claim in the prior week. The four-week average, which smooths out weekly fluctuations, rose last week to a two-month high of 354,750.
Economists had expected claims to drop by 4,000. A Labor Department statistician said the latest numbers weren't skewed by the weather-related fluctuations of the previous two weeks.
For nearly six months, weekly initial claims have remained below the 400,000 threshold that economists associate with an improving labor market.
Normally, economists say, initial weekly claims of about 350,000 or so correlate with strong increases in nonfarm payrolls. But payrolls grew by only 112,000 in January, well short of the 150,000 economists say is necessary to keep the job market from deteriorating.
