Jobless Claims Hit Six-Month High

Initial jobless claims hit their highest level since mid-February, the Labor Department said Thursday.

The 2,000-claim increase to 484,000 for the week ended Saturday compared with economists’ forecasts of a decline to 465,000 new claims, Bloomberg reported.

The four-week moving average, a less volatile measure, rose to 473,500 claims, from 459,250 the previous week.

Continuing claims for the previous week ended July 31 fell by 118,000 to 4.45 million, from 4.57 million a week earlier.