The U.S. four-week moving average of initial claims for unemployment insurance edged up by 250 in the week ended March 29 to 319,500 from the previous week’s revised figure of 319,250, according to seasonally adjusted numbers released today by the U.S. Department of Labor.

The four-week moving average decreases the volatility of the weekly numbers. Total initial claims for unemployment insurance for the week rose by 16,000 to a total of 326,000 from the previous week’s revised figure of 310,000.