US initial jobless claims up 21,000

By Gokhan Ergocun

ISTANBUL (AA) – The number of Americans filing first-time unemployment claims last week rose 21,000 to 218,000, the US Labor Department said Thursday.

While the previous figure was 197,000, and the last week's figure exceeded forecasts of around 200,000.

The four-week moving average was 199,500, up by 8,250 from the previous week's average.

The unemployment rate in the world's largest economy was 3.6% in April.