NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - The number of Americans filing for unemployment assistance rose by 13,000 last week, the government reported, coming in above economists' estimates.

Initial claims for unemployment insurance came in at 331,000 in the week ended May 8, from a revised 318,000 the previous week, the Labor Department reported.

Economists had expected initial claims of 325,000, according to Briefing.com.

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The jobless claims report is the first look at the job market since last Friday's stronger-than-expected payroll report, which showed that companies added 288,000 jobs in April after adding 337,000 in March.

Signs of recovery in the job market have accompanied a slew of strong economic reports from the retail, purchasing and manufacturing sectors, heightening anticipation for an interest rate hike by the Federal Reserve.

The four-week moving average, which smoothes out weekly fluctuations in the report, fell to 335,750 from a revised 343,500 the previous week, hitting the lowest level since Nov. 25, 2000.

Continued claims, the number of people drawing benefits for more than a week, rose to 2,974,000 from a revised 2,921,000 the previous week.