The number of workers collecting state unemployment benefits in the US rose to a record 5.56 million earlier this month, while new claims rose to 652,000 in the week to March 21, the Labor Department said today.
Analysts polled by Reuters had expected continued claims to total about 5.48 million during the week ended March 14th, the most recent data available. The number of new claims for the week of March 21st had been forecast at 650,000.
The data highlights the difficulty workers face in finding new jobs as the U.S. recession grinds on.
The latest report incorporates revised seasonal factors for data since the beginning of calendar 2004.
The impact of those changes on the data was relatively minor overall, although somewhat larger in 2008, a Labor Department official said.
The number of continued claims -- or those who continued to stay on the benefits roll after claiming an initial week of aid-- surged 122,000 during the week ended March 14th from a downwardly revised 5.44 million the prior week.
That pushed the insured unemployment rate to 4.2 per cent from 4.1 per cent the prior week, the highest since May 1983.
The four-week moving average for new claims, considered to be a better gauge of underlying trends as it irons out week-to-week volatility, fell to 649,000 from a revised 650,000 the week ended March 14th. It was the first drop in that series after nine weeks of rises.
Reuters