A day ahead of the release of the more closely watched monthly jobs report, the Labor Department released a report on Thursday showing first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits rose by more than expected in the week ended August 30th.
The Labor Department said initial jobless claims climbed to 237,000, an increase of 8,000 from the previous week's unrevised level of 229,000.
With the bigger than expected increase, jobless claims reached their highest level since hitting a matching figure in the week ended June 21st.
The report said the less volatile four-week moving average also crept up to 231,000, an increase of 2,500 from the previous week's unrevised average of 228,500.
Meanwhile, the Labor Department said continuing claims, a reading on the number of people receiving ongoing unemployment assistance, edged down by 4,000 to 1.940 million in the week ended August 23rd.
The four-week moving average of continuing claims also slipped to 1,946,750, a decrease of 7,000 from the previous week's revised average of 1,953,750.