According to the US Department of Labor, in the week ending September 27, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 497,000, an increase of 1,000 from the previous week’s revised figure of 496,000. It is estimated that the effects of Hurricane Gustav in Louisiana and the effects of Hurricane Ike in Texas added approximately 45,000 claims to the total. The 4-week moving average was 474,000, an increase of 11,500 from the previous week’s unrevised average of 462,500.