The Labor Department will release monthly unemployment data tomorrow.  But there were some bad figures released today on jobless claims.  From the Labor Department's news release:

In the week ending July 31, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 479,000, an increase of 19,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 460,000. The 4-week moving average was 458,500, an increase of 5,250 from the previous week's revised average of 453,250.

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 3.6 percent for the week ending July 24, unchanged from the prior week's unrevised rate of 3.6 percent.

Bloomberg's Bob Willis said the increase was "unexpected":

Economists forecast claims would fall to 455,000, according to the median of 43 projections. Estimates ranged from 444,000 to 470,000. The government revised the prior week's total to 460,000 from a previously reported 457,000.

There were no special factors influencing last week's report, a Labor Department spokesman told reporters are the figures were being distributed. The timing of auto plant retooling shutdowns, which caused claims to gyrate last month, are probably no longer affecting the data, he said.

The four-week moving average of claims, a less-volatile measure, increased to 458,500 last week from 453,250, today's report showed.

Read the Labor Department's report here.