2019.10.0308:36:00UTC+00U.S. Weekly Jobless Claims Rise To 219,000

A day ahead of the release of the more closely watched monthly jobs report, the Labor Department released a report on Thursday showing a modest increase in first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits in the week ended September 28th.

The report said initial jobless claims rose to 219,000, an increase of 4,000 from the previous week's revised level of 215,000.

Economists had expected jobless claims to inch up to 215,000 from the 213,000 originally reported for the previous week.

Meanwhile, the Labor Department said the less volatile four-week moving average was unchanged from the previous week's revised average at 215,000.