New applications for regular state unemployment-insurance benefits ticked higher in latest weekly data, rising 2,000 to a seasonally adjusted 393,000, the Labor Department reported Wednesday.
Economists polled by MarketWatch had expected a level of 390,000 for the week ended Nov. 19.
Claims for the prior week were revised to 391,000 from an earlier estimate of 388,000.
The average of new claims over the past four weeks, a smoother gauge than the volatile weekly number, fell 3,250 to 394,250, reaching the lowest level since early April.
Continuing claims rose 68,000 to 3.69 million in the week ended Nov. 12.
The four-week average for these claims fell 2,250 to 3.67 million, the lowest level since October 2008.
A total of 6.73 million people received some kind of state or federal benefit in the week ended Nov. 5, down 45,000 from the prior week
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