By Jeffry Bartash
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) - The number of workers who filed new claims for unemployment benefits rose 26,000 last week to 436,000, the U.S. Labor Department reported Thursday. Economists polled by MarketWatch had expected claims to rise to a seasonally adjusted 429,000 in the holiday-shortened week of Nov. 27. Last's week's upwardly revised reading of 410,000 was still the lowest in more than two years. The four-week average of initial claims, meanwhile, fell 5,750 to 431,000, the lowest level since August 2008. The moving average smoothes out quirks in the weekly data and is considered a more accurate gauge of employment trends. Continuing claims, which reflect workers already receiving benefits, climbed 53,000 to 4.27 million in the week ended Nov. 20. Altogether, 8.91 million people received some kind of state or federal benefit in the week of Nov. 13, up 377,000, on an unadjusted basis.
