Weekly U.S. jobless claims climb 10,000 to 424,000 (by Jeffry Bartash)

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) - The number of people who filed applications for unemployment benefits rose by 10,000 to 424,000 in the week ended May 21, the Labor Department reported Thursday. The prior week's total was revised up to 414,000 from an originally reported 409,000. Economists surveyed by MarketWatch had expected claims to decline to a seasonally adjusted 405,000. The average of new claims over the past four weeks, meanwhile, fell by 1,750 to 438,500. The four-week average is considered a more accurate gauge of employment trends because it reduces week-to-week volatility in the data. The number of people who continued to receive unemployment checks declined by 46,000 to a seasonally adjusted 3.69 million in the week of May 14. The total number of people receiving some kind of state or federal benefit, which is reported with a two-week lag, dropped 196,976 to 7.74 million in week of May 7, the lowest level in more than two years.