By Jeffrey Sparshott 
 

WASHINGTON--The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits rose last week, though the overall level remained consistent with a labor market that's adding jobs.

Initial jobless claims, a proxy for layoffs across the U.S., increased by 15,000 to a seasonally adjusted 258,000 in the week ended March 18, the Labor Department said Thursday.

Economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal had expected 240,000 new claims last week. The figure for the prior week was revised to 243,000 from 241,000.

Data on unemployment applications can be volatile from week to week. A more stable measure, the four-week moving average of initial claims, rose by 1,000 last week to 240,000.

Initial jobless claims have been on an extended run at historically low levels, a reflection of employers trying to hang onto workers but also hurdles to applying for benefits. Claims in the week ended Feb. 25 were 210,000, the lowest weekly level since December 1969.

Continuing unemployment claims, reflecting benefits drawn by workers for longer than a week, decreased by 39,000 to 2 million in the week ended March 11. Data on continuing claims are released with a one-week lag.

The U.S. job market started 2017 on solid footing.

Nonfarm payrolls rose by a healthy 235,000 in February from the prior month, the Labor Department reported earlier this month, and the unemployment rate ticked down to 4.7%. Average private-sector hourly earnings rose 2.8% last month from a year earlier, the latest sign that a tightening job market is prompting employers to raise pay.

The Labor Department's latest report on jobless claims can be accessed at: https://www.dol.gov/ui/data.pdf

Write to Jeffrey Sparshott at jeffrey.sparshott@wsj.com.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

March 23, 2017 08:45 ET (12:45 GMT)