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Initial jobless claims increased by 24,000 last week to 399,000, the Labor Department said Thursday.

Economists had forecast 375,000 new claims, Bloomberg reported.

The four-week moving average, a less volatile measure, rose to 381,750, from 374,000 the previous week.

Continuing jobless claims for the previous week ended Dec. 31 increased by 19,000 to 3.63 million.