The number of people seeking U.S. unemployment benefits remained near a three-month high last week, the government reported Thursday, indicating that hiring has slowed since winter. The Labor Department said weekly jobless claims fell 1,000 to 388,000, little changed from the previous week's figure, the highest since early January. The four-week moving average for new claims—a closely watched measure of labor-market trends—rose 6,250 to 381,750, its highest since early January. Jobless claims jumped sharply three weeks ago, a sign that employers had increased layoffs and added fewer jobs. But claims have not declined since then. Thursday's reading is the latest example of disappearing momentum in the labor-market recovery. Employers added 120,000 new jobs in March, the least since October, after averaging 246,000 jobs per month over the previous three months. Many economists believe a mild winter helped payroll growth earlier in the year and view recent stagnation as the market returning to equilibrium. Federal Reserve (Fed) Chairman Ben Bernanke said Wednesday that weather likely has disrupted recent data. The warm winter “made perhaps January and February artificially strong and March perhaps artificially a little bit week,” he told reporters. “I wouldn't draw too much conclusion from the March report.”
