Weekly jobless filings rose unexpectedly last week, indicating the labor market recovery from the COVID-19-related disruptions is far from smooth. Initial jobless claims for the week ended July 3 rose to 373,000, up from the previou week’s revised total of 371,000, according to data released by the Department of Labor.

The claims were at more than 1 million a week at the same time last year. Still, the uptick in the latest numbers is puzzling as the the Labor Department reported Wednesday that job openings rose to a record 9.2 million in May.

Continuing claims for the week ended June 26 fell to 3.339 million from the previous week’s revised number of 3.484 million.

(This is a breaking news story and will be updated).

Coronavirus