Initial claims for state unemployment benefits rose 4,000 to a seasonally adjusted 372,000, the Labor Department said today. That was the highest level in five weeks.

The report on jobless claims did have a silver lining, however.

The data covers the same week looked at by the government for its monthly measure of employment, and showed a slight drop in layoffs from the survey week last month, which is a mildly positive signal for hiring in August.

The four-week moving average for new claims, a measure of labor market trends, was 368,000 last week. That was a slight increase from the prior week, but still 2.1 percent lower than in the second week of July.

That week, the government surveyed employers and concluded 163,000 new jobs were created in July - an improvement from the prior three months though the unemployment rate still ticked higher to 8.3 percent.

The government will release its employment report for August on September 7, and policymakers at the Federal Reserve will scrutinize the data for signs the economy is improving.