Initial jobless claims rose by 15,000 last week, the Labor Department said Thursday.

The gain to 311,000 new claims was higher than economists’ forecasts 305,000, Bloomberg reported.

The less-volatile four-week moving average fell to 302,750, the lowest in a year.

The number of people continuing to collect benefits rose to 2.529 million for the previous week ended May 12, from 2.471 million a week earlier, Labor reported.