WASHINGTON – Seasonally adjusted initial jobless claims rose to 402,000 for the week ending Nov. 26, a 6,000 increase from the previous week's revised level of 396,000, the Labor Department reported Thursday.
Continuing claims increased to 3.740 million for the week ending Nov. 19, 35,000 more than the previous week's revised figure of 3.705 million.
The initial claims figure was higher than the median 390,000 level projected by economists polled by Thomson Reuters and continuing claims were higher than the median 3.650 million level they estimated.
The four-week moving average for initial claims was 395,750, an increase of 500 from the previous week's revised average of 395,250.
The four-week moving average for continuing claims was 3.683 million, a gain of 8,250 from the preceding week's revised average of 3.675 million.
The Labor Department provided estimates for Alaska and the District of Columbia.
Twenty-one states had gains of more than 1,000 in initial claims for the week ending Nov. 12, led by California, which had an increase of 19,220. Only two states had declines of more than 1,000 for that week -- Michigan, which was down 1,881 and Indiana, which was down 1,474.
