Washington: The number of Americans filing first-time unemployment claims rose by 6,000 last week, reaching a total of 214,000, according to the US Labor Department data released on Thursday. This increase surpassed market expectations, which had predicted the figure to be 211,000 for the week.

According to Anadolu Agency, the previous week's claims were revised upwards to 208,000. The four-week moving average, a measure that smooths out week-to-week volatility, climbed by 750 to 210,750 from the prior week's upwardly revised 210,000.

In March, the US economy added 178,000 jobs, significantly exceeding the anticipated gain of 65,000. Meanwhile, the unemployment rate decreased to 4.3% in March from 4.4% in February.