Initial claims for regular state unemployment benefits rose 16,000 to a seasonally adjusted 403,000 for the week ended July 6th from the previous week, the US Labor Department said.
This is the highest level of initial claims since the week ended May 25th.
A Labor spokesman explained that the week's claims were boosted by volatility related to annual auto plant shutdowns for re-tooling purposes.
"This is the first week of the annual shutdowns," he explained. Claims are expected to drop back once the plants reopen later in the summer.
"It's better than what we've seen in previous years," he also noted, when weekly claims at this time of year recorded swings of 50,000 - 60,000.
Jobless claims for the week ended June 29th were revised to show a decline of 5,000 to 387,000, compared with the initial estimate of an 11,000 decline to 382,000. Claims for the week ended June 22nd were also revised, to show a higher level of claims than previously reported.
The four-week moving average for initial jobless claims rose 2,000 to 395,000.
This is the highest four-week moving average since the week ended June 15, but marks the fourth straight week under the key psychological level of 400,000.
On an unadjusted basis, claims rose 93,750 to 452,522 for the week ended July 6th. There were 526,826 claims in the comparable week of 2001.
For the week ended June 29th, the insured unemployment rate was 2.8%, up from 2.7 per cent the previous week.
Continuing jobless claims for the week ended June 29th fell 33,000 to 3.64 million, marking the lowest level since the week ended March 23rd.
Continuing claims include workers who have already filed an initial jobless claim, and are now drawing unemployment benefits.