The average of new claims over the past four weeks, meanwhile, climbed by 6,250 to 381,750, matching the highest level of the year.

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch)
The number of Americans who filed requests for jobless benefits was virtually unchanged last week at 388,000, the U.S. Labor Department said Thursday, keeping claims near their highest level of 2012
Claims from two weeks ago were revised up to 389,000 from 386,000
Economists surveyed by MarketWatch had projected claims would drop to a seasonally adjusted 375,000 in the week ended April 21
The average of new claims over the past four weeks, meanwhile, climbed by 6,250 to 381,750, matching the highest level of the year
Continuing claims increased by 3,000 to a seasonally adjusted 3.32 million in the week ended April 14, the Labor Department said. Continuing claims are reported with a one-week lag
About 6.68 million people received some kind of state or federal benefit in the week ended April 7, down 87,160 from the prior week
Total claims are reported with a two-week lag