September 21, 2006 10:15 AM, EDT

Initial Jobless Claims Rise 7,000 For Week

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irst-time U.S. jobless claims rose 7,000 to 318,000 last week the Labor Department said Thursday.

Economists had predicted that the level would rise to 310,000 from last week’s initially-reported 308,000, Bloomberg said.

The less-volatile four-week moving average held at 315,000.

ontinuing jobless claims for the week ended Sep. 9 fell to 2.461 million from 2.49 million a week earlier.