U.S. Unemployment Claims Rise, Pausing Recent Downward Trend

Worker applications for unemployment benefits rose to 861,000 last week, halting a downward trend that pointed to an improving labor market amid other signs that the economic recovery is picking up.

The Labor Department on Thursday said the increase was accompanied by a 55,000 upward revision of claims in the prior week, on a seasonally adjusted basis. That put the four-week moving average, which smooths out week-to-week fluctuations, at 833,000, slightly lower than the prior week.

Economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal had forecast that the number of workers...