WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The number of people filing new claims for unemployment insurance rose to a higher-than-expected 462,000 in the latest week, the Labor Department said on Thursday, while the number of people still collecting jobless benefits fell to an almost two-year low. First-time jobless claims rose 13,000 in the week ended October 9 from the prior week's upwardly revised 449,000 seasonally adjusted claims. The four-week average of first-time jobless benefits, which economists prefer because it smoothes out weekly fluctuations, rose 2,250 to 459,000. Economists polled by Reuters had expected about initial 445,000 claims in the latest week.
