NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - The number of Americans filing new claims for jobless benefits rose last week to 327,000, the government said Thursday, well above Wall Street forecasts for 310,000.

It was the largest amount of claims since the week ended January 8.

The previous week's initial claims total was unrevised from an originally reported 310,000.

The closely watched four-week moving average, which is considered a more reliable indicator of job market trends because it smoothes week-to-week volatility, also rose, climbing to 312,500 from 306,750 in the prior week, breaking five straight weeks of declines and bouncing off a more than four-year low.

The number of people still on unemployment rose for the second straight week, jumping 39,000 to 2.70 million in the week ended Feb. 26.

A Labor Department analyst said there were no special factors behind the sharp increase, but noted that seasonal adjustment factors tried to compensate for the holiday-shortened Presidents Day two weeks ago and the full five-day workweek last week, Reuters news agency reported.

"A number of other reports suggest the labor market is finally hitting its stride, one weekly claims number is not enough to undermine that conclusion." Jared Bernstein, senior economist at the Economic Policy Institute, told CNN/Money.

"We're not out of the woods but we seem to be heading in the right direction," he added.