NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - The number of Americans filing for unemployment assistance soared by 40,000 last week, the government reported Thursday, coming in above economists' expectations.

Initial claims for unemployment insurance rose to 349,000 in the week ended July 9, up from a revised 309,000 the prior week, the Labor Department reported.

Economists expected 340,000 new claims, according to Briefing.com.

The four-week moving average, which smooths out weekly fluctuations in the jobless claims figures, came in at 339,000 last week, up from a reading of 335,750 the prior week.

Much of the new claims can be attributed to a seasonal adjustment of the regular layoff of auto workers due to the closing of assembly plants to prepare for the new model year. This year, many of those layoffs likely occurred in last week's data.

People receiving unemployment assistance for at least a week rose to 2.97 million in the week ending July 3, up from 2.86 the previous week.

Following the report, equity futures turned positive as the accompanying producers price index showed that inflation may not be as big a threat to the economy as initially thought.