US weekly jobless claims rise more than expected

Applications for the jobless benefits in the U.S. rose more-than-expected for the week ended Nov. 27, after falling sharply to lowest levels since July 2008 in the previous week.

Initial jobless claims in the U.S. rose 26,000 to 436,000, the Labor Department said on Thursday.

Markets had expected the claimant count to rise by 13,000 to 423,000.

However, the seasonally adjusted 4-week moving average of initial claims--considered as more accurate measure of employment trends than the weekly number--decreased by 5,750 to 431,000, reaching the lowest level since August 2008.

Also, the number of people who continued to collect unemployment benefits increased by 53,000 to 4.27 million for the week ended Nov.20.

The unemployment rate among people eligible for benefits remained unchanged at 3.4 percent in the week ended Nov. 20.

California witnessed the largest increase in claims during the week, with an additional 4,442 people filing for unemployment benefits.

Overall, the number of people receiving jobless allowance from state and federal governments stood at 8.91 million in the week ended Nov. 13, up 377,000 from the prior week.

In 2010, the weekly jobless claims count ranged from a high of 504,000 to a low of 410,000.

The Labor department is expected to report on monthly jobs report on Friday, which is expected to show that the U.S. economy created 130,000 jobs in November and the unemployment rate remained stable at 9.6 percent.