INITIAL JOBLESS CLAIMS COME IN ABOVE EXPECTATIONS AT 368K

Weekly jobless claims figures are out.

Initial claims were 368,000 last week, up from 330,000 the week before.

Economists expected initial claims to rise to 350,000.

The last two initial claims releases may have been skewed lower by data processing issues.

Continuing claims rose to 3.197 million, more than economists' estimates of 3.171 million. Last week's continuing claims number was revised up to 3.175 million from 3.157 million.

Below is a table from the release showing states where initial claims rose the most (click to enlarge):

Here are the states that reported the largest drop in claims:

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