WASHINGTON — Initial applications for unemployment compensation in the US rose by 2,000 to 414,000 in the week ended Sept. 3, the Labor Department said Thursday.

Economists surveyed by MarketWatch expected the claims to be 411,000.

Initial claims for the prior week were revised up from an original reading of 409,000 to 412,000, the department said.

A government official said that last week’s hurricane in the Northeast appeared to have little effect on claims, but data for four states including California and Virginia had to be estimated because of the Labor Day holiday.

Meanwhile, the average of new claims over the past four weeks rose by 3,750 to 414,750, the highest level since mid-July. The monthly average is seen as a more accurate gauge of labor trends, because it smooths out volatility in the week-to-week data.

About 7.17 million people received some kind of state or federal benefit in the week of Aug. 20, down 167,009 from the prior week.

In addition, the number of Americans who continue to receive benefits through regular state unemployment programs fell by 30,000 to 3.72 million in the week ended Aug 27.

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