By CountingPips.com
U.S. jobless claims increased by more than expected in the week that ended on April 9th, according to a release by the U.S. Labor Department today. Weekly initial jobless claims rose by 27,000 workers to a total of 412,000 unemployed workers and marked the highest claims level in two months. The 4-week moving average of unemployed workers increased by 5,500 workers from the previous week to a total of 395,750.
Market forecasts were expecting jobless claims to decline to 380,000 workers following the previous week’s 385,000 revised number of claims.
Meanwhile, workers seeking continuing claims for unemployment benefits for the week ending April 2nd decreased for the week. Continuing claims declined by 58,000 
workers to a total of 3,680,000 unemployed workers. The 4-week moving average of continuing claims decreased by 20,750 workers to a total of 3,728,750.
Produer Inflation increases
The Producer Price Index, released in a separate report by the Department of Labor, rose for a ninth straight month in March as energy costs increased and pushed prices higher on finished goods.
Producer prices increased by 0.7 percent in the month of March following an increase of 1.6 percent in February and a 0.8 percent rise in January. The annual rate of increase for March showed that producer prices were 5.8 percent higher than March of 2009 after February’s annual rate registered a 5.6 percent increase.
Market forecasts were expecting monthly producer prices to increase by 1.0 percent for March. Contributing to the higher producer prices for the month was an increase in the energy index by 2.6 percent and a rise in gasoline prices by 5.7 percent.
Core producer prices, excluding food and energy prices, rose by 0.3 percent in March following a rise of 0.2 percent in February. The data was just higher than market expectations of a 0.2 percent gain.
