New US jobless claims at 26-year high
03-04-2009
The number of Americans filing new jobless claims jumped unexpectedly last week, while those continuing to receive benefits hit a 10th straight record high. Both figures show the US labor market remains weak and is unlikely to recover anytime soon.
The Labor Department said that initial claims for unemployment insurance rose to a seasonally adjusted 669,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 657,000.
That's above expectations and the highest in more than 26 years. The tally of laid-off workers claiming benefits for more than a week rose 161,000 to over 5.7 million.
The jobless claims data comes a day before the release of what's expected to be another dismal monthly employment report.
