WASHINGTON — The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits rose for the third consecutive week, a sign that the highly contagious delta variant may be slowing a recovery in the job market.

Claims rose unexpectedly by 11,000 last week to 362,000, the Labor Department said Thursday, though economists had been expecting claims to go in the opposite direction. The four-week moving average of claims, which smooths out week-to-week ups and downs, rose for the first time in seven weeks to 340,000.

Since topping 900,000 in early January, applications had fallen fairly steadily as the economy bounced back from last year’s shutdowns.

But they’ve been rising along with coronavirus infections.

The applications, which are a proxy for layoffs, remain elevated: Before the pandemic hit the U.S. hard in March 2020, they were typically coming in at 220,000 a week.

America’s employers have increased their hiring since they slashed 22 million jobs in March and April 2020 as the coronavirus outbreak — and the shutdowns meant to contain it — brought economic activity to a near-standstill. Since then, the economy has recovered about 17 million jobs as businesses to open or expand hours and Americans to return to bars, restaurants and hotels.

But hiring, which has averaged over 585,000 jobs a month this year, slowed to 235,000 in August as the delta variant disrupted the recovery. Restaurants and bars cut nearly 42,000 jobs last month, the first drop this year. Hiring is expected to pick up to over 560,000 this month; the Labor Department issues the September jobs report next week.