​​​​​​​ISTANBUL

The number of Americans filing first-time unemployment claims rose 44,000 last week to 236,000, according to the US Labor Department data released Thursday.

The figure was well above forecasts of 220,000 and was up from the previous week's upwardly revised 192,000, which was the lowest since September 2022.

The four-week moving average was 216,750 -- an increase of 2,000 from the previous week's unrevised 214,750.

The number of continuing unemployment benefit claims fell to 1.83 million in the same period from 1.93 million the previous week.

The US economy added 119,000 jobs in September, well above forecasts of 53,000.

The unemployment rate rose to 4.4% in September from 4.3% in August, above expectations.