First-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits rose by much more than expected in the week ended February 21st, according to a report released by the Labor Department on Thursday.
The report said initial jobless claims jumped to 313,000, an increase of 31,000 from the previous week's revised level of 282,000.
Economists had expected jobless claims to edge up to 290,000 from the 283,000 originally reported for the previous week.
The Labor Department said the less volatile four-week moving average also climbed to 294,500, an increase of 11,500 from the previous week's revised average of 283,000.
With the increase, the four-week moving average bounced well off the nearly four-month low set in the previous week.
Meanwhile, the report said continuing claims, a reading on the number of people receiving ongoing unemployment assistance, fell to 2.401 million in the week ended February 14th from the preceding week's revised level of 2.422 million.
The four-week moving average of continuing claims still rose to 2,399,000, an increase of 1,750 from the previous week's revised average of 2,397,250.
Next Friday, the Labor Department is scheduled to release its more closely watched monthly employment report for February.
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