U.S. Weekly Jobless Claims Rise To 224,000

(RTTNews) - A day ahead of the release of the more closely watched monthly jobs report, the Labor Department released a report on Thursday showing a modest increase by first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits in the week ended November 30th.

The report said initial jobless claims rose to 224,000, an increase of 9,000 from the previous week's revised level of 215,000.

Economists had expected jobless claims to inch up to 215,000 from the 213,000 originally reported for the previous week.

The Labor Department said the less volatile four-week moving average also crept up to 218,250, an increase of 750 from the previous week's revised average of 217,500.