US Jobless Claims Increase to 239,000, Led by Jump in California

Applications for US unemployment benefits rose for the first time in three weeks, largely due to a jump in California and suggesting some more softening in the labor market.

Initial unemployment claims rose by 11,000 to 239,000 in the week ended April 8, Labor Department data showed Thursday. The median forecast in a Bloomberg survey of economists was for 235,000 applications.

Continuing claims, which include people who have received unemployment benefits for a week or more and are a good indicator of how hard it is for people to find work after losing their job, fell to 1.81 ...