The number of people in the US seeking unemployment benefits surged by 15,000 to 576,000 for the week ended August 15, reflecting the continuing turbulence in the country's labour market.
"In the week ending August 15, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 576,000, an increase of 15,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 561,000," the US Labour Department said in a statement on Thursday.
The four-week moving average was 570,000 for the week ended August 15, as compared to previous week's revised average of 565,750.
These figures come at a time when the American economy is slowly signs of stabilisation and the jobless rate slipped to 9.4 per cent in July.
According to the latest data, the advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment for the week ended August 8 climbed to 6,241,000, from the previous week's level of 6,239,000.
Insured unemployment rate stood at 4.7 per cent for the week ended August 8, unchanged from the prior week's unrevised rate of 4.7 per cent.
"The four-week moving average was 6,266,000, a decrease of 2,500 from the preceding week's revised average of 6,26,85,00," the statement added.
