Summary Box: Layoffs slow, but jobless rate rises to 9.4 percent and will move higher

JOB CUTS SLOW: Employers cut 345,000 jobs last month, the fewest since September and the fourth straight month that the pace of layoffs slowed.

Summary Box: Jobless claims dip, but unemployment rate expected to keep rising

JOBLESS CLAIMS EASE: The number of newly laid-off workers filing initial claims for unemployment insurance fell Thursday, and so did the total number of people on the jobless benefit rolls.