New US jobless claims rose by 4,000 in the past week to 558,000, the Labor Department reported Thursday in a weaker-than-expected snapshot of current labor conditions.
The survey for the week to August 8 showed a rise from last week's revised total of 554,000, and was worse than the consensus analyst estimate of 545,000.
The four-week moving average, which smooths out week-to-week volatility, was 565,000, an increase of 8,500 from the previous week.
But some other figures in the survey appeared to confirm the stabilization in the job market, a key to any sustainable recovery from the long recession.
The seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 4.7 percent for the week ending August 1, a decrease of one-tenth of a point from the prior week.
The number receiving unemployment benefits in the week to Augsut 1 meanwhile dropped by 141,000 to 6,202,000.
Last week, the monthly update of the labor market showed the jobless rate fell one-tenth of a point to 9.4 percent in July as job losses narrowed to 247,000 from 443,000 in June.
Analysts say the data suggested the labor market and the economy have likely turned the corner after a brutal recession that began in December 2007.
