U.S. Weekly Jobless Claims Unexpectedly Climb To 284,000

First-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits unexpectedly increased in the week ended January 9th, according to a report released by the Labor Department on Thursday.

The report said initial jobless claims climbed to 284,000, an increase of 7,000 from the previous week's unrevised level of 277,000. Economists had expected jobless claims to edge down to 275,000.

With the unexpected increase, jobless claims bounced back toward the nearly six-month high of 287,000 set in the week ended December 26th.

The Labor Department also said the four-week moving average rose to 278,750, an increase of 3,000 from the previous week's unrevised average of 275,750.

The uptick lifted the less volatile four-week moving average to its highest level since hitting 282,500 in the week ended July 11th.

Continuing claims, a reading on the number of people receiving ongoing unemployment assistance, also increased by 29,000 to 2.263 million in the week ended January 2nd.

The four-week moving average of continuing claims climbed to 2,224,250, an increase of 5,250 from the previous week's revised average of 2,219,000.

Last Friday, the Labor Department released a separate report showing that U.S. employment increased by much more than expected in the month of December.

The report said non-farm payroll employment climbed by 292,000 jobs in December compared to economist estimates for an increase of about 200,000 jobs.

Employment in October and November also increased by an upwardly revised 307,000 jobs and 252,000 jobs, respectively, reflecting a combined upward revision of 50,000 jobs.

The Labor Department also said the unemployment rate held at a more than seven-year low of 5.0 percent in December, matching expectations.