Jobless Claims Rise for Week, Decline for Month

Initial jobless claims rose last week but declined in the past month, the Labor Department said Thursday.

Claims rose 18,000 to 409,000 for the week ended Saturday, about in line with economists’ forecasts, Bloomberg reported.

For the past four weeks, claims fell to 410,750, the lowest level since July 2008, Labor said.

Continuing claims for the previous week ended Christmas Day fell 47,000 from a week earlier to 4.1 million.

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