New US weekly jobless claims rose by 30,000 over the past week to 586,000, the Labor Department said Wednesday in another sign of a weak employment picture. The figure was higher than the 558,000 expected by private economists and indicates employment, one of the best indicators of economic momentum, continues to struggle. The four-week moving average, sometimes seen as a more reliable indicator, rose to 558,000 from 544,250 a week earlier, the agency said. The insured unemployment rate was unchanged from last week at 3.3 percent.
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