Oct. 28 (Bloomberg) -- Natural gas futures were little changed in New York after a government report showed that U.S. inventories increased less than forecast last week. Gas stockpiles gained 71 billion cubic feet in the week ended Oct. 22 to 3.754 trillion, the Energy Department said today. Analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg before the report showed an expected gain of 74 billion cubic feet. A survey of Bloomberg users showed an increase of 77 billion. “There were a lot of people who predicted storage numbers around 79 or 80” billion, said Allen Rather, an independent energy analyst in Victoria, Texas. “What people failed to realize is that when you get to this level of gas in storage, the pressures make it physically harder to put more and more gas in the ground.” Natural gas for December delivery rose 0.3 cent to $3.766 per million British thermal units at 11:09 a.m. on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Gas was trading at $3.689 before the report was released at 10:30 a.m. in Washington. Prices have declined 2.7 percent this month and 33 percent this year. Last week’s storage increase was bigger than the five-year average gain for the week of 45 billion cubic feet, department data show. A surplus to the five-year average rose to 9.1 percent from 8.4 percent the previous week. A 1.3 percent deficit to year-earlier supplies was erased. Stockpiles climbed to a record 3.837 trillion cubic feet last November before colder weather sparked demand, reducing supplies. November Forecast Below-normal temperatures are likely in most of the eastern third of the U.S. from Nov. 2 to Nov. 6, according to Commodity Weather Group in Bethesda, Maryland. Temperatures in the Northeast and Midwest may be above-normal from Nov. 7 to Nov. 11, according to the forecast. The high in New York on Nov. 5 may be 46 degrees Fahrenheit (8 Celsius), 11 degrees below normal, according to AccuWeather Inc. in State College, Pennsylvania. Temperatures may be above-normal in parts of the upper Midwest in December, January and February, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The Northeast has an equal chance of above-normal and below-normal temperatures during that period, the administration said. Applications for U.S. unemployment benefits unexpectedly fell last week to the lowest level in three months, a sign of improvement in the labor market. Initial jobless claims decreased by 21,000 to 434,000 in the week ended Oct. 23, Labor Department figures showed today in Washington. An acceleration in economic growth may boost the demand for natural gas and other industrial fuels. --With reporting by Courtney Schlisserman in Washington. Editors: Bill Banker, Richard Stubbe To contact the reporters on this story: Christine Buurma in New York at Cbuurma1@bloomberg.net; To contact the editor responsible for this story: Dan Stets at dstets@bloomberg.net

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