WASHINGTON - Initial jobless claims rose to 428,000 on a seasonally adjusted basis for the week ending Sept. 10, the Labor Department reported Thursday. Continuing claims fell to 3.726 million for the week ending Sept. 3.
Initial claims have now been above 400,000 since April except for a one-week drop to 399,000 in August.
Economists expected 410,000 initial claims and 3.710 million continuing claims, according to the median estimate from Thomson Reuters.
Initial claims for the week ending Sept. 3 were revised to 417,000. Continuing claims for the August 27 week were revised to 3.738 million.
There was no indication of a boost in claims from Hurricane Irene, according to a Labor official. This is the first week that hurricane-related claims would have appeared in the report. The official also said that because of the Labor Day holiday, seasonal adjustment factors had expected a large decline in unadjusted claims. That didn't happen. Actual claims fell 6.5% instead of the expected 9%, so the seasonally adjusted number was pushed higher.
The four-week moving average for initial claims was 419,500, up from a revised 415,500. The four-week average for continuing claims was 3.741 million, up from a revised 3.740 million.
In actual unadjusted numbers, 39 states reported an increase in claims, while 14 reported a decrease.
