Unemployment figures for March will be reported Friday morning, but they won't include the most recent week.
If you're trying to handicap the job market prior to Friday morning's release of unemployment figures for March, here's a number for you: 385,000.
That's the seasonally adjusted number of new applications for unemployment insurance in the week that ended March 30, the U.S. Department of Labor says. It's the highest level in four months, Reuters reports.
The weekly number ticked up steadily throughout March, but the most recent figure is a leap of 28,000 people in the last week. The four-week average surged more than 11,000.
The March overall unemployment number will not include the March 30 weekly figure, Reuters said, because it's outside the survey period. But it does show an overall weakness in hiring, the news service said. Reuters projects a gain in jobs of 200,000 and the unemployment rate remaining at 7.7 percent.
The March unemployment number will be released 8:30 Friday morning.
