Initial claims for unemployment insurance across the U.S. rose to a seasonally adjusted 326,000 last week, 2,000 more than the previous week's revised total of 324,000, the U.S. Labor Department reported on Nov. 10. Hurricane-related claims declined in Louisiana and Mississippi, but layoffs rose in the transportation and furniture industries in Missouri, Ohio and Pennsylvania, the department said.
The Labor Department's four-week moving average of jobless claims, which smooths out week-to-week swings in the data and thus is considered a better reflection of underlying labor market tends, fell by 16,250 claims to 334,250.
