By Rex Nutting
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) - The number of people filing initial claims for state unemployment benefits rose by 31,000 to a seasonally adjusted 473,000 last week, the Labor Department reported Thursday, a sign that labor markets remain very weak. The four-week average of initial claims fell by 1,500 to 467,500, about 20,000 more than at the first of the year. The number of people continuing to claim state unemployment benefits was unchanged in the week ending Feb. 6 at 4.56 million. All told, in raw numbers not seasonally adjusted, 11.8 million people were collecting some type of unemployment benefits in the week of Jan. 30, up 281,000 from the previous week's 11.5 million.
