First time jobless claims climb by 17,000

WASHINGTON, Dec. 20 (UPI) -- The U.S. Labor Department Wednesday said first-time jobless benefits claims rose by 17,000 in the week.

There were 361,000 first-time claims in the week, a drop from the previous week's revised figure of 344,000.

The four-week rolling average for the week was 367,750, a decrease of 13,750 from the previous week.

The unadjusted advance number of first-time unemployment benefits claims under state programs totaled 400,422 for the week, a decrease of 28,766 from the previous week, the Labor Department said.