The lines grew longer at US state unemployment benefit offices last week, a US government report showed today, as more workers are ending up jobless and remaining that way in an economy hit hard by the attacks in New York and Washington.
The US labour department said the number of initial jobless claims increased by 6,000 to a seasonally adjusted 490,000 for the week ended October 13th, well above Wall Street's expectations.
In a sign US workers are remaining jobless, the number of Americans continuing to claim state unemployment benefits for the week ended October 6th - the most recent week for which the data were available - rose by 152,000 to 3.65 million, the highest level in more than 18 years.
The four-week moving average of initial claims, considered a more reliable measure of employment conditions than the weekly measure because it irons out fluctuations, rose to 491,250, the highest level in more than ten years and the fourth consecutive weekly gain.