The number of U.S. people initially applying for unemployment aid last week increased after hitting a 4-year low in a week earlier, the U.S. Labor Department reported on Thursday.

The Labor Department said that the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims for jobless benefits was 362, 000 in the week ending March 3, an increase of 8,000 from the previous week's revised figure.

While the fresh number was the highest level since January, it still stayed below the threshold of 375,000 to suggest a sustained drop in the unemployment rate.

Meanwhile, the four-week moving average, which helps smooth out week-to-week volatility, edged up by 250 to 355,000.

The advance figure for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending Feb. 25 was 3.416 million, an increase of 10,000 from one week earlier.

The U.S. Commerce Department recently revised the economic growth rate upwardly to an annual rate of 3 percent in the fourth quarter. An improving economy also means accelerated job growth, which would help sustain household spending.

In the past five months, the U.S. businesses added an average of 200,000 net jobs per month. But the job market has a long way to go before it fully recovers from the recession, and the current 8.3 percent unemployment is still painfully high.