Jobless Claims Hit Three-Month High

Initial jobless claims hit a three-month high last week, the Labor Department said Thursday.

The 19,000 increase to 479,000 claims for the week ended Saturday exceeded economists’ forecasts of a decline to 455,000 new claims, Bloomberg reported.

The four-week moving average, a less volatile measure, rose to 458,500, from 453,250 the previous week.

Continuing claims for the previous week ended July 24 fell by 34,000 to 4.54 million, from 4.57 million a week earlier.