The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits rose less than expected last week, the government said Thursday, but the data continues to be influenced by distortions from seasonal auto-factory shutdowns. The Labor Department reported that initial jobless claims rose 8,000 to 365,000 last week. The four-week moving average of claims, a better measure of labor-market trends, fell 2,750 to 365,500, the lowest level in four months. Temporary factory shutdowns by automakers for annual retooling cause wide swings in jobless-claims data in July, which makes it difficult for economists to clearly see the health of the labor market. The total number of people receiving unemployment benefits fell by 19,000 last week to 3.3 million, the report said.
