By Greg Robb, MarketWatch WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) - First-time jobless claims rose last week by the largest amount in five weeks, surprising economists who had expected a decline. Initial claims rose by 11,000 to 444,000 in the week ended Jan. 9, the Labor Department reported Thursday. This is the highest level since mid-December. Despite the increase, the trend in jobless claims is still positive. The average number of workers filing claims over the past four weeks fell by 9,000 to 440,750. This is the lowest since late August 2008, just prior to the near-collapse of the financial system. The four-week average is considered a better gauge of the labor market than the volatile weekly number. After trending as high as 660,000 last year, jobless claims have improved to the mid-400,000 range. This is still higher than the level that would be consistent with gains in payroll employment, economists said. The claims data measure the number of workers who lost their jobs through no fault of their own and were eligible for unemployment benefits. Economists had projected that claims would inch lower this week. The consensus forecast of Wall Street economists was for claims to fall to 433,000. The number of workers collecting regular state benefits fell 211,000 to 4.6 million. The four-week moving average of continuing claims fell 151,500 to 4.86 million. But economists are skeptical of the improvement. They say that workers are rolling from regular programs to emergency extended programs that the federal government set up. The insured unemployment rate, representing the portion of all workers covered by unemployment insurance who are collecting benefits, fell to 3.5% from 3.6% in the prior week. In a separate report, the department said import prices were flat in December.

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