MW: In holiday week, jobless claims rise to two-month high
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — Weekly jobless claims rose to the highest level in two months, but still remained near the slow rates seen before the recession, signaling that employers are laying off few workers, according to government data released Thursday.
The number of people who applied for jobless benefits rose 11,000 to 315,000 in the week that ended Sept. 6, hitting the highest level since late June, the U.S. Labor Department reported.
Economists polled by MarketWatch had expected initial claims for regular state unemployment-insurance benefits to tick down to 301,000 in the most recent weekly data from an originally reported 302,000 for the prior period. On Thursday, the U.S. Labor Department revised initial claims for the week that ended Aug. 30 to 304,000.
