New claims for US unemployment benefits rose slightly last week on a burst of jobless applications related to Hurricane Wilma, the US Labor Department said today.
First-time claims for state unemployment benefits rose 2,000 to a seasonally adjusted 326,000 in the week ended November 5th.
Wall Street economists had expected 320,000 initial claims after a revised 324,000 the prior week.
There were about 15,000 new jobless claims related to hurricanes Katrina and Rita last week, bringing those US Gulf Coast storms' cumulative unadjusted impact to 535,000 claims, a Labor Department analyst said.
Hurricane Wilma, which struck Florida late last month, triggered about 6,000 unadjusted claims last week for a running total of 7,400 claims since the storm hit.
The four-week moving average of jobless claims, seen as a more telling snapshot of the US labour market because it suppresses weekly volatility, fell for a fifth straight week to 334,250 last week from 350,500 the prior week.
Continued claims, which show the number of people seeking benefits after receiving an initial week of assistance, rose by 23,000 to 2.82 million in the week ended October 29th, the latest period for which data is available.