Department of Labor: First time unemployment claims up

COLUMBIA, S.C. (CNN)— The number of people filing initial unemployment claims went up last week.

There were 242,000 first-time claims up 13,000 from the week before, according to the Labor Department. That’s just a little more than economists were expecting.

Taking a broader look at the numbers, weekly unemployment claims have been trending up.

The four week average of nearly 240,000 is about 40,000 higher than six months ago. That’s a sign the U.S. labor market is softening.