US: Weekly Initial Jobless Claims rise to 248K vs. 219K expected

There were 248,000 initial claims for unemployment benefits in the US during the week ending February 12, the data published by the US Department of Labor (DOL) revealed on Thursday. This was above the median economist forecast for 219,000 initial claims and was also above last week's 225,000 reading, which had been revised higher from 223,000.