NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - The number of Americans making new claims for jobless benefits edged higher last week, the government said Thursday.

Initial jobless claims rose to 320,000 in the week ended Aug. 25 from an upwardly revised reading of 317,000 in the week before, the Labor Department said. That was below the 354,000 recorded in the same period a year ago.

Stock futures turned slightly higher on the report.

The Labor Department had to estimate jobless claims counts from Mississippi and Louisiana because officials were unable to contact offices in the two hurricane-stricken states, Reuters reported.

The reading came in above the 315,000 figure economists surveyed by Briefing.com had expected.

But claims unadjusted for seasonal factors actually fell 2,204 last week to 250,597.

The four-week moving average of new claims, which economists prefer to use as a gauge of layoffs because it smooths weekly volatility, was 316,750, an increase of 1,250 from the previous week's revised average of 315,500, the Labor Department said.

Hurricane Katrina had little effect on last week's numbers, and Friday's monthly jobs report also is unlikely to show any impact, but analysts expect devastation from the storm to take a big bite out of job creation in the months to come.

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