Initial Jobless Claims Grow

WASHINGTON (TheStreet) -- The Labor Department announced today that the number of first-timers applying for unemployment benefits grew a bit more than expected.

According to a release on Thursday, initial claims grew by 11,000 to a seasonally adjusted 531,000 from an upwardly revised 520,000 sum. Many had forecast the number of new claims to jump to 515,000 from a pre-revised 514,000 total.

Still, the four-week moving average for first-timers, which tends to iron out wild fluctuations from week to week, fell by a subtle 750 to 532,250.

>> See U.S. Layoffs Mount

The number of those continuing to claim unemployment benefits -- which trail initial claims figures by a week -- also fell to 5.92 million from 6.02 million, though the 98,000 may be a reflection of jobless claimants exhausting their benefits.

With many still predicting the unemployment rate to top 10% in the months ahead, Sun Microsystems(JAVA Quote), Verizon(VZ Quote), eBay(EBAY Quote) and MetLife(MET Quote) each announced layoffs in October.

-- Written by Sung Moss in New York

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