US jobless claims rise

Washington: New claims for US unemployment insurance benefits rose last week but kept within the recent low range that suggests a modestly improving jobs market, according to official data released Wednesday.

Initial jobless claims, a sign of the pace of layoffs, increased by 21,000 to 313,000 in the week ending November 22, the Labor Department said. The prior week`s level was upwardly revised to 292,000 from 291,000.

The four-week moving average of claims rose by 6,250 to 294,000, compared with 334,750 a year ago.

In early November the Labor Department reported another fall in the unemployment rate, to a six-year low of 5.8 percent in October, with job creation holding a pace above 200,000 a month for the ninth consecutive month.