The Labor Department reported on Thursday that 367,000 new jobless claims for the previous week, up 4,000 from earlier in the month. The four-week moving average for new claims stayed steady at 375,000. Economists’ expectation for this week's number was 370,000. Last year at this same time, the new claims number was 402,000 and the four-week moving average was 408,250. On Friday, the Labor Department will release its nonfarm-jobs report for September, which is expected to show.
