Weekly U.S. jobless claims climb to 429,000 (by Jeffry Bartash)

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) - U.S. applications for unemployment compensation rose by 9,000 to a seasonally adjusted 429,000 in the week ended June 18, the Labor Department said Thursday. Initial claims from two weeks ago were revised up to 420,000 from an originally reported 414,000. Economists surveyed by MarketWatch had expected initial claims for last week to total 415,000. The average of new claims over the past four weeks, meanwhile, was flat at 426,250 after taking the latest revisions into account. The monthly average is considered a more accurate measure of employment trends. The number of people who continued to receive unemployment checks edged down 1,000 to a seasonally adjusted 3.7 million in the week ended June 11. Continuing claims are reported with a one-week lag. A total of 7.54 million people received some kind of state or federal benefit in the week of June 4, up 137,220 from the prior week. Total claims are reported with a two-week lag.