Washington, DC, November 22, 2006--Initial claims for unemployment benefits rose to their highest level since late October, climbing by 12,000 last week to stand at 321,000, the Labor Department reported Wednesday.
The four-week moving average of new claims also rose, moving up by 3,000 to 317,000 for the week ended Nov. 18. Some economists consider the four-week average a more accurate indicator of claims because it smoothes out distortions like holidays, weather or labor strikes.
Economists had been expecting initial claims of about 310,000.
The number of people collecting unemployment benefits climbed by 14,000 in the week ended Nov. 11, to 2.45 million, the Labor Department said. It's the highest reading in 10 weeks.
Meanwhile, the four-week average of continuing claims rose to 2.43 million, up 3,000.
Initial unemployment claims represent job destruction, while the level of continuing claims indicates how hard or easy it is for displaced workers to find new jobs.
The insured unemployment rate -- the percentage of all those covered by unemployment insurance who are collecting benefits -- remained at 1.9% for the week ended Nov. 11.
Both initial and continuing claims are essentially unchanged over the past year.
The government's claims data were reported a day earlier than normal because of the Thanksgiving Day holiday