Washington -- First-time applications for state unemployment benefits have registered their first increase in six weeks, the U.S. Labor Department said Thursday.

Applications for initial jobless benefits rose by 15,000 to a seasonally adjusted 311,000 last week, a Labor Department report said.

The four-week average of initial claims, a more accurate indication of the labor market, dropped by 3,500 to 302,750, the lowest since late February 2006.

Copyright 2007 by United Press International.