Weekly Jobless Claims Fall Less Than Expected

The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits fell less than expected last week, but a lingering backlog of applications in California makes it difficult to get a good read of labor market conditions.

Initial claims for state unemployment benefits fell 12,000 to a seasonally adjusted 350,000, the Labor Department said Thursday. Claims for the prior week were revised to show 4,000 more applications filed than previously reported.