Initial jobless claims rose last week by 13,000 to 462,000 in yet another indication of job market woes.

The increase in the weekly figure--released by the Labor Department this morning--followed a similarly large decrease the week before. Some viewed that drop, which was the first time weekly initial claims had fallen below 450,000 since July, as a possible sign that the labor market was on the mend.

Today's data countered that hope. Forecasters surveyed by Bloomberg had predicted that the claims number would hold steady The high end of the range given by the news service was 455,000--7,000 below the actual figure.