U.S. Weekly Jobless Claims Inch Up To 302,000

(RTTNews) - First-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits rose by slightly more than expected in the week ended August 30th, according to a report released by the Labor Department on Thursday.

The report said initial jobless claims edged up to 302,000, an increase of 4,000 from the previous week's unrevised level of 298,000. Jobless claims had been expected to tick up to 300,000.

The Labor Department said its less volatile four-week moving average also inched up to 302,750 from the previous week's unrevised average of 299,750.

On the other hand, the report said continuing claims, an indicator of the number of people receiving ongoing unemployment assistance, fell to 2.464 million in the week ended August 23rd.

Continuing claims were down by 64,000 from the preceding week's revised level, hitting their lowest level since June of 2007.

The four-week moving average of continuing claims also fell to a seven-year low of 2,510,750, a decrease of 13,750 from the previous week's revised average.

Friday morning, the Labor Department is scheduled to release a separate report on the employment situation in the month of August.

Economists expect the report to show an increase of about 225,000 jobs in August compared to the addition of 209,000 jobs reported for July.

Payroll processor ADP released a report on Thursday showing another notable increase in private sector employment in the month of August, but the pace of job growth came in below economist estimates.

ADP said private sector employment rose by 204,000 jobs in August following a downwardly revised increase of 212,000 jobs in July.

Economists had been expecting an increase of about 220,000 jobs compared to the addition of 218,000 jobs originally reported for the previous month.