U.S. jobless claims jump in latest week

updated 9:55 a.m. ET June 12, 2008

WASHINGTON - The number of people filing new claims for unemployment benefits jumped last week to the highest level since late March.

The Labor Department reported Thursday that new applications for jobless benefits rose to 384,000, an increase of 25,000 from the previous week.

That was a much bigger gain than analysts had been expecting and indicated that the labor market still remains under pressure. Last week, the government reported that the unemployment rate jumped to 5.5 percent, up from 5 percent in April. That was the biggest one-month gain in 22 years.

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