US initial jobless claims above 700,000 again

By Ovunc Kutlu

ANKARA (AA) - The number of Americans filing first-time unemployment claims rose 61,000 to 719,000 last week, according to the Labor Department on Thursday.

Analysts expected 680,000 for the week ending March 27, while the previous week was revised down by 26,000 from 684,000 to 658,000.

The previous week marked the lowest level in more than a year, according to the Labor Department.

The world's largest economy still has around 10 million unemployed workers after adding more than 379,000 jobs in February, according to the agency.

Nonfarm payrolls and the unemployment rate for March will be announced Friday.