NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - The number of people filing for jobless benefits jumped last week, the government reported Thursday, as the latest reading on the strength of the labor market came in far worse than Wall Street forecasts.
The Labor Department reported that 362,000 people filed for initial unemployment benefits in the week ended Aug. 28, up from the reading of 343,000 the previous week. Economists surveyed by Briefing.com forecast that 340,000 filed for benefits.
Friday morning the Labor Department will release its eagerly anticipated August employment report, and many economists and investors believe the figures will give some guidance as to whether the Federal Reserve will again move to raise interest rates when it meets Sept. 21.
The previous two months have produced weak growth in the number of jobs being created in the economy. The data for the August report was collected before last week, though.
A Labor Department analyst attributed much of last week's gain to people seeking benefits in the aftermath of Hurricane Charley, which slammed into south Florida last month.
The analyst said "a little less than half" of the 19,000 increase in claims was due to the storm. Some economists had suspected there could be a hike in claims, as residents finished digging out from the storm and many applied for unemployment aid. However, analysts don't expect Charley to have had much effect on the August employment report due out Friday morning.
The claims level was the highest since the week ended April 10, when it was also 362,000. The four-week moving average of jobless claims - which smoothes the volatility seen in the weekly data -- also rose last week, to 343,000 from 336,750 in the week ended Aug. 21.
-- Reuters contributed to this report.
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