Initial jobless claims rose by 17,000 last week to 551,000, the Labor Department said Thursday.
Economists had forecast claims for the week ended Saturday would rise to 535,000 from a revised 534,000 the previous week, Bloomberg reported.
The four-week moving average, a less volatile measure, fell to 548,500 for the week ended Saturday, Labor said. The average was 554,2500 a week earlier, Labor said.
The number of Americans collecting jobless benefits fell to 6.09 million for the previous week ended Sept. 19.
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