By Jeffry Bartash
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) - The number of people applying for initial unemployment benefits climbed by 19,000 to 479,000 in the latest week, the Labor Department reported Thursday. The four-week average of initial claims -- a more accurate gauge of employment trends - rose by 5,250 to 453,250. Economists surveyed by MarketWatch had expected state claims to drop to 453,000 in the week ended July 31. The number of workers who continue to receive state unemployment checks, meanwhile, fell by 34,000 to 4.54 million in the week ended July 24, the latest data available .
