--US new jobless claims +39,000 at 372,000 in latest week
--US new jobless claims 4-week average + 5,500 at 352,500
--US jobless claiming benefits +118,000 to 2.463 million
--US jobless benefits 4-week average +29,000 to 2,401,500
--US jobless benefits 4-week average highest since Feb 1997

By Simon Kennedy, BridgeNews
Washington--Mar. 1--New claims for U.S. state unemployment insurance benefits rose 39,000 to 372,000 during the week ended Saturday, the U.S. Labor Department said Thursday, above the 350,000 median estimate of analysts surveyed by BridgeNews. The 4-week moving average rose 5,500 to 352,500.
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The larger-than-expected increase in the latest week's claims stemmed from "various factors," a Labor aide said, citing New England school employees filing for benefits during a "Winter Break," auto-related layoffs in North Carolina and construction layoffs in the tornado-hit Alabama.
The estimates of analysts surveyed by BridgeNews put initial jobless claims for the latest week in a range of 345,000 to 358,000.
For the week ended Feb. 17, initial claims fell 11,000 to a seasonally adjusted 333,000, originally reported as 348,000, Labor said. An aide said that week's data was revised mainly because one large state had made an error in its initial survey as it sought to collate its data quickly, ahead of the President's day holiday.
For the same week, the 4-week moving average for new claims was 347,000, originally 350,750 per week.
In new data for the week ended Feb. 17, 2.463 million people were reported claiming unemployment benefits under regular state programs, the highest since January 1997 and up 118,000 from the previous week's revised 2.345 million, Labor said. That increase was the steepest in just over a year.
The 4-week moving average for the week for continuing claims rose 29,000 to 2,401,500--the highest in 4 years.
The seasonally adjusted rate of insured unemployment during the week ended Feb. 17 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