WASHINGTON: New claims for US unemployment insurance benefits rose last week, the Labour Department reported on Thursday, a day ahead of the much-anticipated September job market report. Initial jobless claims, an indicator of the pace of layoffs, rose by 10,000 to 277,000 in the week ending September 26.

The weekly claims reading has remained below 300,000 since March as the labour market steadily improves. The four-week moving average, which helps strip out volatility, fell by 1,000 to 270,750. A year ago the average was 296,250.