Jobless Claims Jump by 71,000 Following Katrina

he number of U.S. workers filing initial unemployment benefits jumped by 71,000 last week in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, the biggest jump in more than nine years.

Claims rose to 398,000, the Labor Department said Thursday. About 68,000 of the initial claims were from people directly affected by Katrina, a Labor official told Bloomberg.

Analysts had forecast claims to rise to 350,000 from 319,000 the week before, Bloomberg reported.

The four-week moving average of claims, a less volatile measure, rose to 340,750 from 321,000 for the week, Labor said.

The number of people filing continuing jobless claims rose to 2.59 million from 2.57 million for the previous week ended Sept. 3.