Initial Jobless Claims Increase

Initial jobless claims rose last week, the Labor Department reported Thursday.

Claims rose by 7,000 to 480,000 for the week ended Saturday, Labor said.

Economists had forecast the rate to drop to 465,000, Bloomberg reported.

The four-week moving average, a less volatile measure, fell to 467,500, the lowest number since September 2008, from 472,750 the previous week.

Continuing jobless claims for the previous week ended Dec. 5 rose by 5,000 to 5.19 million, Labor said.