In a further sign that the US economy is slowing, the number of continued jobless claims rose to 2,772,000 the highest since June, 1994, the US government said today.
Initial claims for jobless benefits also jumped by 15,000 in the week ended May 19th to 407,000 from a revised 392,000 in the prior week, which was 116,000 more than the same period a year ago, the US labour department said.
Last week's rise was sharper than expected. US economists had projected claims for the latest week would rise to 388,000.