By Ovunc Kutlu
ISTANBUL (AA) – The number of Americans filing first-time unemployment claims rose by 5,000 last week to 245,000, according to Labor Department data released on Thursday.
The figure came in higher than market estimates of 240,000, while the previous week's figure was revised up by 1,000 from 239,000 to 240,000.
The four-week moving average was 239,750, a decrease of 500 from the previous week's revised average.
The US economy added 236,000 jobs in March, while the unemployment rate fell to 3.5% from 3.6%.