NEW YORK — The nation's natural gas supplies rose last week, the government said Thursday.

The Energy Department's Energy Information Administration reported that natural gas in storage grew by 59 billion cubic feet to 2.845 trillion cubic feet for the week ended July 26.

Analysts expected a rise of 54 billion to 58 billion cubic feet, according to a survey by Platts, the energy information arm of McGraw-Hill Cos.

The inventory level was 1.2 percent below the five-year average of 2.879 trillion cubic feet, and 11.5 percent below last year's level of 3.213 trillion cubic feet, according to the government data.

Natural gas futures fell 10 cents to $3.35 per 1,000 cubic feet in New York.