First-time applications for state unemployment benefits rose 54,000 to a seasonally adjusted 524,000 in the week ending Jan. 10, the Labor Department said Thursday.
The gain in the most recent claims data restarts an upwards trend that analysts had expected. Initial claims had declined in the prior two weeks, likely due to seasonal adjustment problems.
The four-week average of new claims fell 8,000 to 518,500 - a level that is 55% higher than the average during the same period in the prior year.
Meanwhile, the number of people collecting benefits in the week ending Jan. 3 fell 115,000 to 4.5 million, a level that is 64% higher than the prior year. The four-week average of continuing claims rose 27,500 to 4.5 million - the highest level since December 1982. The insured unemployment rate remained at 3.4%.
Initial claims represent job destruction, while the level of continuing claims indicates how hard or easy it is for displaced workers to find new jobs. Benefits are generally available for those who lose their full-time jobs through no fault of their own. Those who exhaust their unemployment benefits are still counted as unemployed if they are actively looking for work.
The labor market has been under severe strain in recent months, with the government reporting last week that the U.S. economy lost 524,000 jobs in December, closing out the worst year of job losses since World War II. Almost 2.6 million jobs were lost in 2008, with 1.9 million destroyed in just the past four months.
