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Initial jobless claims climbed again last week, rising to 362,000, the Labor Department said Thursday, as hiring appeared to remain sluggish.

• Economists surveyed by Dow Jones had been expecting 335,000 new filings, the same number as the upwardly revised total from the previous week. A surge in claims from California helped account for much of the gains.

• Markets reacted little to the news, with stock futures pointing higher and government bond yields around flat.

• The four-week moving average for weekly claims, which smooths volatility in the numbers, edged lower to 335,750.

• Continuing claims, which run a week behind the headline weekly number, rose to 2.84 million, an increase of 131,000. The four-week moving average for continuing claims fell to 2.8 million, a drop of 15,750 and the lowest since March 14, 2020, the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic.

SOURCE: CNBC