--US new jobless claims +15,000 at 361,000 in latest week
--US new jobless claims 4-week average +4,250 at 331,250
--US jobless claiming benefits +32,000 at 2.381 million
--US jobless benefits 4-week average -56,750 at 2,349,250

By Andrew Williams, BridgeNews
Washington--Feb. 8--New claims for U.S. state unemployment insurance benefits rose 15,000, to 361,000, during the week ended Saturday, the U.S. Labor Department said. That is above the 350,000 median estimate of analysts surveyed by BridgeNews. The 4-week moving average for initial claims rose 4,250, to 331,250.
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Estimates of analysts surveyed by BridgeNews put initial jobless claims for the latest week in a range of 325,000 to 358,000. For the week ended Jan. 27, initial claims increased 32,000 to a seasonally adjusted 346,000, Labor said. For the same week, the 4-week moving average for new claims was 327,000 per week.
In new data for the week ended Jan. 27, 2,381,000 people were reported claiming unemployment benefits under regular state programs, up 32,000 from the previous week, Labor said. The 4-week moving average for the week of Jan. 27 for continuing claims dropped 56,750 to 2,349,250.
The seasonally adjusted rate of insured unemployment during the week ended Jan. 27 was steady at 1.9%. The figure 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 Copyright 2001 Bridge Information Systems Inc. All rights reserved.