WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) - First-time claims for state unemployment benefits rose unexpectedly in the latest week to their highest level in nine months, the Labor Department reported Thursday. The number of initial claims in the week ending Aug. 14 rose 12,000 to 500,000. This is the third consecutive weekly increase. Claims are at their highest level since Nov. 14, 2009. The consensus forecast of Wall Street economists was for claims to inch lower. The four-week average rose 8,000 to 482,500.Claims in the previous week were revised to an increase of 6,000 to 488,000 compared with the initial estimate of an increase of 2,000 to 484,000. Meanwhile, the number of Americans receiving state jobless benefits fell 13,000 to 4.48 million in the week ending Aug. 7. The four-week moving average of continuing claims fell 1,500 to 4.53 million. This is the lowest level since December 2008.
