The number of Americans initially applying for unemployment aid last week increased as the recovery of job market lost some momentum.
In the week ending September 6, the advance figure of seasonally adjusted initial claims for jobless benefits rose to 315,000, 11,000 more than the revised level in the previous week, the U.S. Labor Department said on Thursday.
Meanwhile, the four-week moving average, which helps smooth out week-to-week volatility, edged up by 750 to 304,000 last week. The advance figure of seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending August 30 increased 9,000 from the previous week to 2,487,000.
The Labor Department said last week that the nonfarm payroll employment increased by 142,000 in August, down from July' s 209,000 and far below market expectation of above 200,000. The unemployment rate edged down to 6.1 percent from July' s 6.2 percent in the month, but in line with market expectation.