The number of Americans filing new claims for jobless benefits rose more than expected last week. Initial claims for state unemployment aid increased by 17,000 to a seasonally adjusted 298,000 for the week ended Dec. 27, the Labor Department said, after four straight weeks of declines, Reuters reported. “The claims data still point to relatively upbeat conditions in the labor market through some of the ups and downs in the weekly figures,” said Daniel Silver, an economist at JPMorgan in New York. While last week’s increase was above Wall Street’s expectations for a rise to 290,000, the claims numbers are very volatile around the Christmas holiday period.
