--US new jobless claims +32,000 at 346,000 in latest week
--US new jobless claims 4-week average -8,500 at 327,000
--US jobless claiming benefits +14,000 to 2.347 million
--US jobless benefits 4-week average -53,500 to 2,403,750

By Andrew Williams, BridgeNews
Washington--Feb. 1--New claims for U.S. state unemployment insurance benefits rose 32,000, to 346,000 during the week ended Saturday, the U.S. Labor Department said. New claims came in well above the 325,000 median estimate of analysts surveyed by BridgeNews. However, the 4-week moving average fell 8,500, to 327,000.
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The estimates of analysts surveyed by BridgeNews put initial jobless claims for the latest week in a range of 297,000 to 340,000.
For the week ended Jan. 20, initial claims rose 10,000, to a seasonally adjusted 314,000, originally reported as 316,000, Labor said. For the same week, the 4-week moving average for new claims was 335,500, originally 336,000 per week.
In new data for the week ended Jan. 20, 2.347 million people were reported claiming unemployment benefits under regular state programs, up 14,000 from the previous week's revised 2.333 million, Labor said. The 4-week moving average for the week of Jan. 20 for continuing claims fell 53,500 to 2,403,750.
The seasonally adjusted rate of insured unemployment during the week ended Jan. 20 rose to 1.9% from the previous week's revised 1.8%. The ratio represents people claiming benefits as a percentage of the workforce potentially eligible for these benefits.
Data on continuing claims and the insured unemployment rate are reported with a one-week delay. End
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