Initial claims rise 3,000 to 588,000; continuing claims hit 4.78 million
U.S. unemployment lines stretched to the longest on record, the Labor Department reported Thursday, a sign that the U.S. labor market continues to worsen.
Continuing jobless claims rose by 159,000 in the week ending Jan. 17 to a seasonally adjusted 4.78 million, the most since the government's records begin in 1967. That is the same week the government surveyed hundreds of thousands of workplaces and households to gather information for the January employment report.
Meanwhile, the number of new claims for state unemployment benefits rose by 3,000 to a seasonally adjusted 588,000 in the week ending Jan. 24, just 1,000 below the 26-year high for initial claims set a month ago.
The four-week average of new claims - which smooth out distortions caused by bad weather, strikes or the timing of holidays - rose by 24,250 to 542,500.
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. The jobless claims report shows businesses are laying off workers at a rapid pace, and finding a replacement job is ever harder for those who've lost work.
Compared with the same week a year ago, new jobless claims are up about 63%, while continuing claims are up 71%. The data come from state unemployment offices' reports on actual filings, not a statistical sample.
Anecdotal evidence also points to higher joblessness. Major companies have been announcing layoffs, totaling more than 100,000 just this week. Those layoffs will take place over several months.
The insured unemployment rate - the proportion of covered workers who are receiving benefits - was steady at 3.6%, the highest in 25 years.
In December, 524,000 nonfarm payroll jobs were lost, capping the worst year for job losses since 1945. The January payroll figures will be reported on Feb. 6, with economists currently expecting a loss of at least 500,000 for the third consecutive month.
Typically, unemployment benefits run out after 26 weeks for those who are eligible. A total of 1.72 million people were collecting benefits under a federal program that extends unemployment benefits for an extra 13 weeks. The stimulus bill winding through Congress would extend that program further.
Benefits are generally available for those who lose their full-time job through no fault of their own. Those who exhaust their unemployment benefits are still counted as unemployed if they are actively looking for work.
