Fewer Americans claim unemployment

The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits dropped by 19,000 last week, the largest decline in two months, the government reported Thursday.

The Labor Department said the decline pushed the level of jobless benefits down to 334,000 after claims had unexpectedly jumped by 23,000 the week before.

The four-week moving average for claims, which smoothes out week-to-week volatility, dipped slightly to 336,500 last week, a level that was viewed as pointing to further improvements in the labor market.

Above, graduating students and alumni from the City University of New York prepare Thursday to attend the CUNY Big Apple Job Fair in New York.

Energy Report

Gasoline prices to continue rising

While gasoline costs have reached record levels, prices at the pump are forecast to go even higher in coming weeks because of growing demand, government forecasters said Thursday.

The Energy Information Administration projected that average gasoline prices would peak at $2.35 a gallon in May. Motorists paid an average of $2.22 a gallon last week.

AAA reported Thursday that the average price for unleaded gasoline in Lawrence had hit $2.235 a gallon, a new record.

On average, regular grade gasoline is expected to cost $2.28 per gallon nationwide during the April through September period, the energy administration said.

The agency projected demand for gasoline this summer to increase by 1.8 percent over last summer.

Stocks

Payless shares slip despite sales growth

Shares of Payless ShoeSource Inc. slumped more than 8 percent Thursday after the Topeka-based company’s same-store sales for March fell short of expectations.

Sales at stores open at least a year grew 1.4 percent in March, Payless said Thursday. Analysts had expected a 4 percent increase.

Payless shares closed Thursday at $14.67, down $1.30 on the New York Stock Exchange.

Total sales for the five weeks ended April 2 fell 1.4 percent to $270.2 million from $273.9 million during the same period a year ago.

Payless said it remained committed to its goal of posting low single-digit positive same-store sales growth on a consistent basis. Based on quarter-to-date sales, the company said it was on track to achieve this objective in the first quarter.