New claims for US unemployment insurance benefits surged last week, official data showed Thursday in a fresh sign that a recovery of the ailing labor market is losing steam.
Initial jobless claims rose to a seasonally adjusted 474,000 in the week ending April 30, a 10 percent increase from the prior week, the Labor Department reported.
The weekly indicator has increased in three of the four weeks in April, and the latest rise surprised most analysts who had forecast a decline, to 400,000 claims.
The four-week moving average, which helps to smooth volatility, also rose: to 431,250 claims, an increase of 22,250.
In the prior week, the average topped the 400,000 threshold for the first time in eight consecutive weeks.
The jobless claims data comes on the eve of the government’s April employment data.
According to the consensus forecast, the Labor Department is expected to report 185,000 nonfarm jobs were created, a drop of 14 percent from March, and the unemployment rate would hold at March’s 8.8 percent rate, after four months of decline.
Washington, May 5, 2011 (AFP)
