The number of people filing new claims for unemployment benefits rose last week, the U.S. Labor Department said in a report today. Weekly jobless claims rose by 10,000 to 372,000 last week, though the winter holidays likely distorted the data for a second consecutive week. The four-week moving average of jobless claims, considered a better measure of labor-market trends, rose 250 to 360,000, the report said. The total number of people still receiving unemployment benefits increased 44,000 to 3.25 million last week, the report added.
