The number of Americans lining up for first-time unemployment benefits rose sharply during the week ended December 29th, a US government report showed today.
Initial claims for unemployment benefits posted a rise of 36,000 to 447,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 411,000, the US Labor Department said.
The US economy has been in recession since last March so the weekly claims data is been closely examined for signs that declines in employment might be starting to level off.
The number of workers continuing to receive unemployment checks also surged, rising 42,000 to 3,715,000 for the week ending December 22nd.
However, the four-week moving average, considered useful as a barometer since it smooths out weekly variations, posted a modest decline of 8,250 to 409,750 from the revised average of 418,000 in the prior week.
The insured unemployment rate, a measure of the portion of the nation's workforce that is receiving jobless benefits, was unchanged at 2.9 per cent.