U.S. Weekly Jobless Claims Rise To 219,000

(RTTNews) - A day ahead of the release of the more closely watched monthly jobs report, the Labor Department released a report on Thursday showing first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits rose by more than expected in the week ended February 1st.

The report said initial jobless claims climbed to 219,000, an increase of 11,000 from the previous week's revised level of 208,000.

Economists had expected initial jobless claims to rise to 213,000 from the 207,000 originally reported for the previous week.

The Labor Department said the less volatile four-week moving average also crept up to 216,750, an increase of 4,000 from the previous week's revised average of 212,750.