The number of Americans filing first-time applications for unemployment insurance rose last week to 640,000 as forecast, while total benefit rolls reached a record, indicating the labor market continues to deteriorate. Initial jobless claims increased by 27,000 in the week that ended April 18, from a revised 613,000 the prior week, the Labor Department said today in Washington. The number of people staying on jobless-benefit rolls rose by 93,000 to 6.14 million, the 12th straight week the figure has set a record. Job losses may continue all year even as the longest recession in the postwar era shows signs of reaching a trough. The release indicates employment cuts may come close to topping 650,000 for a record fifth straight month in April because today’s report covers the week of the monthly payroll survey. “There is nothing suggesting at this point that payroll declines are going to abate,” said Tom Porcelli, a senior economist at Castlestone Management Ltd. in New York. “We could bounce along the bottom here for a while.” Stock-index futures were higher and Treasuries were little changed after the report. Futures on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index were up 0.7 percent as of 8:36 a.m. in New York. Benchmark 10-year notes yielded 2.94 percent. Estimates in the Bloomberg News survey of 43 economists ranged from 610,000 to 700,000 initial claims. Claims for the prior week were revised from an initially reported 610,000. Four-Week Average The four-week moving average of initial claims, a less volatile measure, fell to 646,750 from 651,000. The jobless rate among people eligible for benefits rose 0.1 percentage point to 4.6 percent, the highest since January 1983, in the week ended April 11. These data are reported with a one-week lag. Twenty-five states and territories reported an increase in new claims for the week ended April 11, while 28 reported a decrease. Initial jobless claims reflect weekly firings and tend to rise as job growth, measured by the monthly non-farm payrolls report, slows or falls. The Labor Department reports payrolls on May 8. The U.S. lost 663,000 jobs last month, Labor said April 3, and the unemployment rate jumped to 8.5 percent, the highest level since 1983. The economy has lost about 5.1 million jobs since the recession began in December 2007. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg in early April said unemployment will rise to 9.5 percent by the end of the year. Auto Industry The auto industry is at the forefront of manufacturing layoffs. General Motors Corp., operating on $13.4 billion in U.S. government loans, told employees that 1,600 salaried workers will be dismissed this week. Combined with 250 earlier job cuts and other resignations and retirements, the moves will complete “the bulk” of GM’s plan for eliminating 3,400 U.S. salaried positions, said Tom Wilkinson, a GM spokesman. “These are difficult actions,” GM North America President Troy Clarke wrote in an e-mail to employees on April 20. “Given the economic realities facing GM, these actions are necessary to help ensure the long-term viability of our company.” Firings also continue in the battered financial industry. Asset manager Legg Mason Inc. said this week it will cut 40 additional jobs in the U.S., after firing 200 employees in December because of a decline in assets and fees. The company is trying to “align our operating costs with the realities of the marketplace,” according to an internal memo obtained from the Baltimore-based firm.

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