Bloomberg (07/25/13) Alexandria Baca; Shobhana Chandra
The number of people who applied for unemployment benefits last week rose as annual auto-plant shutdowns continued to affect data. Jobless claims increased by 7,000 to 343,000 in the week ended July 20, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg had forecast 340,000 jobless claims. The less-volatile four-week moving average of new jobless claims fell to 345,250 last week from 346,500.