By Amara Omeokwe and David Harrison 
 

WASHINGTON--The number of Americans applying for first-time unemployment benefits increased last week, the Labor Department said Thursday. Here are the report's takeaways:

--Initial jobless claims rose by 6,000 in the week ended Jan. 18 to a seasonally adjusted 211,000. Economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal expected 215,000 new jobless claims.

--Claims for the week ended Jan. 11 were revised up to 205,000 from 204,000.

--Jobless claims are volatile week-to-week. The four-week moving average, which smoothes those variations, fell to 213,250 last week.

--Continuing claims, those filed by workers unemployed for longer than a week, were down by 37,000 to 1.731 million in the week ended Jan. 11. Continuing claims are reported with a one-week lag.

The Labor Department report on jobless claims can be accessed at: http://www.dol.gov/opa/media/press/eta/ui/current.htm.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

January 23, 2020 08:45 ET (13:45 GMT)