WASHINGTON – Seasonally adjusted initial jobless claims rose to 381,000 for the week ending Dec. 24, a gain of 15,000 over the previous week's revised figure of 366,000, the Labor Department reported Thursday.
Continuing claims increased to 3.601 million for the week ending Dec. 17, a gain of 34,000 over the previous week's revised level of 3.567 million.
The 381,000 of initial claims were higher than the median 375,000 projected by economists polled by Thomson Reuters and the 3.601 million of continuing claims were higher than the median 3.560 million they estimated.
The four-week moving average for initial claims was 375,000, a decrease of 5,750 from the previous week's revised average of 380,750 and the lowest level since June 7, 2008, when it was 372,750.
The four-week moving average for continuing claims was 3.599 million, a decline of 39,000 from the preceding week's revised average of 3.638 million and the lowest level since Sept. 27, 2008, when it was 3.534 million.
Labor Department officials said they estimated seven states' data, including Arizona, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, and Oklahoma, which did not send any figures. Three states sent data in advance that had to be estimated, the officials said. They were California, Colorado and Virginia.
