U.S. Weekly Jobless Claims Climb To 277,000, More Than Expected

(RTTNews) - With tomorrow's closely watched monthly jobs report looming, the Labor Department released a report on Thursday showing first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits rose by more than expected in the week ended September 26th.

The report said initial jobless claims climbed to 277,000, an increase of 10,000 from the previous week's unrevised level of 267,000. Economists had expected jobless claims to edge up to 271,000.

The continued increase lifted jobless claims further off the nearly two-month low of 264,000 set in the week ended September 12th.

Meanwhile, the Labor Department said the less volatile four-week moving average dipped to 270,750, a decrease of 1,000 from the previous week's unrevised average of 271,750.

Continuing claims, a reading on the number of people receiving ongoing unemployment assistance, also slid by 53,000 to 2.191 million in the week ended September 19th.

The four-week moving average of continuing claims fell to 2,235,250, a decrease of 17,000 from the previous week's revised average of 2,252,250.

Friday morning, the Labor Department is scheduled to release its more closely watched monthly employment report for September.

Economists expect the report to show an increase of about 203,000 jobs in September following the addition of 173,000 jobs in August. The unemployment rate is expected to hold at 5.1 percent.