U.S. Jobless Claims Jump, Showing Choppy Labor-Market Recovery

Applications for U.S. state unemployment insurance unexpectedly rose for a second week, underscoring the uneven nature of the labor market recovery.

Initial claims in regular state programs increased by 16,000 to 744,000 in the week ended April 3, Labor Department data showed Thursday. Economists in a Bloomberg survey estimated 680,000 claims. The prior week’s data was revised up to 728,000. California and New York led states with the biggest increases in unadjusted claims.

The increase in claims shows the labor market still has a long way to go to recover the millions of jobs lost during the pandemic. Still,...