(Reuters) - U.S. jobless claims jumped unexpectedly last week to their highest level since October, suggesting the labor market is still in a rut despite signs of improvement in the economy.
The number of Americans filing for first-time unemployment benefits rose to 445,000 from an upwardly revised reading of 410,000 in the prior week, the Labor Department said on Thursday. It was the biggest one-week jump in about six months, confounding analyst forecasts for a small drop to 405,000.
A Labor Department official noted the rebound occurred following the holidays, which may have hindered reporting of new claims and created a backlog.
Continuing claims retreated sharply to 3.88 million from 4.13 million, a potentially encouraging sign. However, the total number of Americans on benefit rolls, including extended benefits under emergency government programs, jumped to 9.19 million from 8.77 million.
Thursday, January 13, 2011
New jobless claims post biggest jump in 6 months
No worry's, the “summer of recovery” will soon be upon us.
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Weekly jobless claims up more than expected.the number of workers continuing to filing claims for unemployment benefits
The numbers were a bit of a shock to the financial markets. After all, just a week ago, everyone was talking about the downward trend being a good thing. A chief economist from IHS Global Insight was just one of a myriad talking optimism on Bloomberg last week.
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