DETROIT >> Unable to string together profitable quarters, electric car and solar cell maker Tesla Inc. reported a loss for the last three months of 2016.

Tesla posted its first profit in three years in last year’s third quarter and had predicted net income in the fourth quarter. Instead, the company lost $121.3 million, or 78 cents a share, for the quarter. Still, that was less than half the $320.4 million loss from the year-earlier quarter.

Without one-time items, Tesla lost 69 cents a share. Analysts polled by FactSet predicted a loss of 53 cents a share. Revenue rose 88 percent to $2.28 billion, beating estimates of $2.22 billion.

Tesla’s shares rose 1.6 percent in after-hours trading Wednesday to $277.90. They have jumped more than 50 percent since early December.

The company, which is based in Palo Alto, Calif., said Wednesday that it expects to start making its $35,000 Model 3 in July, with higher-volume production by September. That’s consistent with previous guidance that Model 3 deliveries would start in the second half of this year.

CEO Elon Musk said the company will produce 5,000 cars per week this year when Model 3 production gets into full swing. The Model 3, he said, is a much simpler car that will be easier to make than Tesla’s current models, the S sedan and X SUV.

Weekly jobless claims tick up

WASHINGTON >> More Americans applied for unemployment benefits last week, but claims remained at a low level consistent with a healthy job market.

The Labor Department said Thursday that 244,000 Americans applied for jobless aid last week, up by 6,000 from the previous week. The four-week average, a less volatile measure, fell by 4,000 to 241,000, the lowest since July 1973.

Overall, 2.06 million people are collecting unemployment checks, down 7.7 percent from a year ago.

Unemployment claims are a proxy for layoffs. They have come in below 300,000 a week for 103 straight weeks, the longest such streak since 1970. The low levels of claims suggest that employers are confident enough in the economy to hang on to their workers and perhaps know it would be difficult to find replacements in a tight job market.

ON THE MOVE

>> Kahuku Medical Center has announced the following new family medicine physicians: Dr. Jude Sells, with interest in urgent care, sports medicine and children’s health; and Dr. Namea Sells, with interest in women’s and children’s health.

>> BerkShire Hathaway HomeServices Hawai‘i Realty has announced the following new sales associates: Realtor Sharon P.M. Chai, previously from East Oahu Realty, and newly licensed agent Wendy Darling.

>> Marsh has named Scot Sterenberg as head of its Honolulu office. He has 22 years of service with Marsh and will continue his current position as Hawaii Captive Solutions Practice leader.