New claims for US unemployment benefits rose unexpectedly in the past week, underscoring jobless concerns even as the economy emerges from recession.
The seasonally adjusted number of claims in the week to September 26 rose by 17,000 to 551,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 534,000.
It was higher than the 535,000 forecast by most economists.
The four-week moving average, which smooths out week-to-week volatility, was 548,000, a decrease of 6,250 from the previous week's revised average of 554,250.
The total number of Americans receiving unemployment benefits fell.
According to the Labor Department, the number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending September 19 was 6.09 million, a drop of 70,000 from the preceding week's revised level of 6.16 million.
The insured unemployment rate was 4.6 percent for the week, unchanged from the prior week's unrevised rate.
The weekly report offers one of the most up-to-date snapshots of the job market, critical to economic momentum.
It comes ahead of the September job losses and unemployment rate to be released Friday, which is expected to show a loss of another 180,000 jobs and the unemployment rate rising from the current 9.7 percent to 9.9 percent.
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