First-Time Jobless Claims Rise

Initial applications for U.S. jobless benefits logged an unexpected rise in the Thanksgiving week, the government said Thursday in a report that suggested the job market still was regaining its health.

The number of Americans lining up to claim state unemployment insurance pay rose to 365,000 in the week of Nov. 29 from a revised 354,000 the previous week, the Labor Department said.

Analysts had expected the claims number, a rough guide to the pace of U.S. layoffs, to dip to 350,000 last week from the 351,000 originally reported for the week before.

Economists, however, were not worried, and a Labor Department spokesman cautioned against reading too much into the rise, saying claims figures tend to be more volatile during the holiday season.

“The latest claims figure exceeded expectations but does not alter the fact that, on a trend basis, there has been a significant slowdown in the pace of layoffs over the last month or so,” said Jade Zelnik of RBS Greenwich Capital Markets.

Recent economic data have shown the broad economy gathering steam. Last week the government revised third-quarter gross domestic product up to an 8.2% annual pace.

The rise in claims nudged the four-week moving average, regarded as a more reliable gauge of job market strength because it smooths out week-to-week volatility, to 362,500 from 359,500 in the previous week.

However, in a sign that there indeed is a revival in the labor market, initial claims held below the key 400,000 mark for the ninth straight week.