Jobless Claims Jump 26,000 for Week

Initial jobless claims rose by 26,000 last week, the Labor Department said Thursday.

The upturn to 430,000 claims was more than the 424,000 projected by economists, Bloomberg reported.

The four-week moving average, a less volatile measure, fell to 431,000 from 436,750 the week before.

Continuing claims for the previous week ended Nov. 20 rose by 53,000 from a week earlier, to 4.2 million.

Labor will release its monthly employment report Friday morning in Washington.