In the week ending Sept. 20, 493,000 Americans filed initial claims for unemployment benefits, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.
That’s an increase of 32,000 from the previous week’s revised figure of 461,000. The department said about 50,000 of the new claims could be the result of Hurricane Gustav in Louisiana and Hurricane Ike in Texas.
The 4-week moving average was 462,500, an increase of 16,000 from the previous week’s revised average of 446,500.
