The number of U.S. initial claims for unemployment insurance for the week ended Jan. 16 rose by 36,000, or 8.1%, to 482,000 from the previous week's revised number of 446,000, the U.S. Department of Labor reported today.

The four-week moving average of claims for the week ended Jan. 16 rose by 7,000, or 1.6%, to 448,250 from the previous week's revised average of 441,250.