Weekly applications for jobless benefits rose by 13,000 last week to 260,000, the Labor Department reported Thursday. That was the highest level since an identical 260,000 claim applications were filed the week of Sept. 10.

Since that time, claims had fallen to the lowest levels since November 1973. Even with last week's gain, claims remain at levels indicating that workers are enjoying job security despite sluggish economic growth.

The increase in benefit applications was bigger than economists had been forecasting, but some suggested that disruptions in filing applications earlier caused by Hurricane Matthew might have been a factor.

Stephen Stanley, chief economist at Amherst Pierpont Securities, said claims increases in North Carolina could have been hurricane-related, and he said big gains in California and Kentucky might be “a garden variety makeup” for lower-than-expected readings in the previous two weeks.

The four-week average for claims, a less-volatile measure, rose by 2,250 to 251,750 last week.

Overall, 2.06 million Americans are collecting unemployment checks, down 6 percent from a year ago.

Apple files suit vs. N.J. company

Apple says it has been buying Apple chargers and cables labeled as genuine on Amazon.com and has found nearly 90 percent of them to be counterfeit.

The revelation comes in a federal lawsuit filed by Apple against a New Jersey company on Monday over what Apple says are counterfeit products sold on Amazon.

In the lawsuit, Apple says MobileStar imprinted Apple logos on cables and chargers that “pose a significant risk of overheating, fire, and electrical shock.” It says the chargers and cables were being sold on Amazon as genuine Apple products.

Apple says it told the online retailer that they were fake. Amazon then identified MobileStar as the source.

Snoopy has been handed the pink slip.

After 31 years as the face of MetLife, the company said Thursday that it is launching a new global branding effort, marking the end of the relationship with Charlie Brown's beagle.

“We brought in Snoopy over 30 years ago to make our company more friendly and approachable during a time when insurance companies were seen as cold and distant,” said Esther Lee, MetLife's global chief marketing officer.

But MetLife is spinning off its domestic retail life insurance business to focus more on corporate clients. Snoopy does not appear to hold the same marketing swagger with corporate America.