Seasonally adjusted initial claims for U.S. unemployment benefits for the week ended Oct. 12 rose to 214,000 from the previous week's unrevised figure of 210,000, according to the latest data from the U.S. Labor Department.

The four-week moving average was 214,750, up from 213,750 in the previous week.

The seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate, which measures the proportion of the labor force receiving unemployment benefits, was unchanged at 1.2% in the week ended Oct. 5. Insured unemployment totaled 1,679,000, down from the previous week's revised figure of 1,689,000.