By Jeffry Bartash, MarketWatch
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — The number of people who filed new claims for unemployment benefits jumped 12,000 to 465,000 in the latest week, underscoring the lack of hiring in a weak U.S. labor market.
New claims for jobless benefits had dropped two straight weeks, but part of the decline stemmed from a disruption in the government’s data collection caused by the Labor Day holiday in early September. Claims often rise after the holiday.
Although new applications for unemployment compensation have tumbled 8% since spiking in July, claims are still at historically elevated levels at this stage of an economic recovery. Weak growth and slack demand for their products and services has deterred most companies from adding to their workforce, keeping the U.S. unemployment rate of 9.6% near a 27-year high.
Economists polled by MarketWatch had expected initial claims to rise to a seasonally adjusted 455,000 in the week ended Sept. 18. Claims for last week were revised up by 3,000 to 453,000.
A more accurate gauge of employment trends is the four-week average of initial claims, which is less volatile than the weekly number. The four-week average dipped 3,250 to 463,250.
The latest claims report relies on one estimate — for the state of Nebraska. The Labor Department had to make estimates for two states last week and nine during the holiday week.
In the week ended Sept. 11, about 4.49 million workers continued to receive benefits under regular state unemployment programs. That was down 48,000 on a seasonally adjusted basis. The four-week average of continuing claims rose by 2,500 to 4.52 million.
About 5.17 million people received extended benefits in the week ended Sept. 4, up almost 208,000 from 4.96 million the prior week. Extended federal benefits of up to 99 weeks are offered to millions of workers after they use up eligibility for state unemployment compensation.
Regular benefits last six months in most states.
About 9.18 million people were getting some kind of unemployment benefit in the week ended Sept. 4, little changed from the prior week. More than 8 million Americans lost their jobs during the worst of the recession in 2008 and 2009.
