The number of people filing new applications for US unemployment benefits rose unexpectedly last week to the highest level since February, but the underlying trend continued to point to improving labor-market conditions, the government reported Thursday. The Labor Department said jobless claims rose 14,000 to 344,000 last week. Economists had expected claims to decline. The four-week moving average of claims, considered a better measure of labor trends because it smoothes weekly volatility, rose by 3,000 to 320,000 last week. It was the third consecutive weekly increase. Jobless claims, a measure of layoffs, have fallen to pre-recession levels since peaking at 665,000 in early 2009.
