Initial jobless claims rose last week last week and continuing claims reached a new record the previous week, the Labor Department said Thursday.
Initial claims increase 36,000 to 667,000 for the week ended Saturday, Labor said.
Analysts had forecast that initial claims would fall to 625,000 from the 627,000 initially reported the prior week, Bloomberg reported.
The four-week moving average, a less volatile measure, rose to 639,000, from 620,000 a week earlier.
The number of people on continuing claims rose to record 5.112 million for the previous week ended Feb. 14, a new record.
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