U.S. Jobless Claims Rose to 203,000 Last Week
New applications for unemployment benefits rose for the second week in a row last week but remained near historic lows in a sign of a tight U.S. labor market.
Initial jobless claims, a proxy for layoffs, increased by 1,000 to 203,000 last week from the previous week’s revised level of 202,000, the Labor Department said Thursday.
Filings for unemployment benefits have approached the record lows set in 1968 this year. The four-week average for claims, which smooths out…