First-time claims for unemployment benefits rose to 316,000 for the week ending Jan. 10, the Department of Labor reported Thursday.
That number, which was adjusted for seasonal variation, was well above the sub-300,000 mark that investors expected, and a steep increase from last week’s revised 297,000.
The four-week moving average of initial claims for unemployment insurance ticked up by 6,750 to 297,000.
Thursday’s disappointing report comes during a time when the seasonal factors that the Department of Labor must adjust for are large because of temporary hiring during the holidays. The unadjusted number of first-time claims for benefits was 528,476, an increase of 99,660 from the week before.
Altogether, there were 2,841,840 workers out of jobs for the week ending Dec. 27, an increase of 435,000. That number was down from 4,717,707 a year ago.
The rapid decline in the number of people receiving unemployment benefits is a reflection of the tightening labor market. The unemployment rate is down by over a percentage point since then.
But the falling number of workers receiving insurance payments is also due to the expiration of benefits for those out of work for 27 weeks or longer in late December of 2013.
While rising initial claims would be expected to translate to slower job growth, job creation has accelerated in recent months.
There were 252,000 new jobs in December, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ most recent report. In the past three months, the economy has added an average of 289,000 new jobs.
This story was first published at 8:35 a.m. and has been updated.
