Job Seeker Brett Culver, left, of Newalla, Okla., formerly of the Air Force, talks with Texas state trooper Deon Cockrell, right, at a Recruit Military job fair in Oklahoma City, Thursday, Jan. 31, 2013.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits jumped 20,000 last week to a seasonally adjusted 362,000, though it remains at a level that suggests slow but steady improvement in the job market.

The Labor Department said Thursday that the four-week average, a less volatile measure, rose 8,000 to 360,750, the highest in six weeks. A department spokesman said heavy snowstorms in the Northeast didn’t affect the total.

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