Unemployment Claims Edging Higher

Initial jobless claims rose 12k last week, to 346k (consensus 335k),the largest increase in a month. The four week moving average climbedto 343k, the highest level since October. YTD initial claims haveaveraged 320k, so the trend is slowly rising. Continuing claims roseto a one month high of 2.646M. The six month average for continuingclaims is much lower, at 2.564M.