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Jobless claims rise
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September 14, 2000: 8:48 a.m. ET
Four-week average of claims stays at highest level since January 1999
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits, after falling for two weeks, rose to 324,000 last week from a revised 311,000 the prior week, the government reported Thursday.
Economists polled by Briefing.com had forecast U.S. jobless claims of 315,000 for the period.
 The four-week moving average of claims, which generally provides a more accurate picture of jobless trends, also rose, to 318,500 in the week ended Sept. 9 from a revised 316,000 the prior week, the Labor Department said. The four-week average is at its highest mark since the week of Jan. 23, 1999, where it has been for the past two weeks.
Continued claims rose to 2,245,000 for the Sept. 2 week, the latest data available, from a revised 2,164,000 the prior period.
Texas, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Michigan and North Carolina reported more than 1,000 new claims. Texas reported more layoffs in the lumber, non-electrical machinery, fabricated metals, food, trade and service industries. Massachusetts attributed its increase to a labor dispute in the defense industry. Minnesota and North Carolina had more layoffs in the transportation equipment industry, while Michigan reported additional layoffs in the automobile industry.
New York, Ohio and West Virginia each reported decreases of at least 1,000. None of those states would comment on the figures. 
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