Jobless claims climb in week, up by 7,000

WASHINGTON, July 25 (UPI) -- The U.S. Labor Department said first-time jobless benefits claims rose by 7,000 to 343,000 in the week that ended Saturday.

The four-week rolling average fell, dropping by 1,250 to 345,250.

The previous week's first-time claims figure was revised higher from 334,000 to 336,000.

The largest increases in initial claims for the week that ended July 13 were in Georgia, where claims rose by 7,027, California with 6,799 additional claims and Texas with 6,001 new claims.

The largest decreases were in Michigan, down by 11,969, New York, down by 4,743 and New Jersey, where first-time claims fell by 4,477.