The number of U.S. initial claims for unemployment insurance for the week ended Jan. 9 rose by 11,000, or 2.5%, to 444,000 from the previous week's revised number of 433,000, the U.S. Department of Labor reported today.

However, the four-week moving average of claims for the week ended Jan. 9 fell by 9,000, or 2.0%, to 440,750 from the previous week's revised average of 449,750.