The number of people filing new jobless claims jumped unexpectedly to the highest level in 26 years, while at the same time the number of those continuing to receive benefits hit a 10th straight record-high.
The Labor Department said Thursday that initial claims for unemployment insurance rose to a seasonally adjusted 669,000 from the previous week’s revised figure of 657,000.
The number of people continuing to file for unemployment benefits rose 161,000 to 5.7 million in the week ended March 21, which is the latest week for which data is available.
As indicated, this was the 10th consecutive record high for continuing claims, and the highest number since the government began keeping records in 1967.
The current recession is the longest since World War II. It is now in its 17th month.
The new unemployment claims data comes a day before the Labor Department is to issue another monthly employment report. Economists forecast that report will show employers cut 654,000 jobs in March, while the unemployment rate increased to 8.5% from 8.1%.
In February, companies cut their payrolls by 651,000 jobs, a record third straight month of job losses above 600,000. A report to match economists' estimates would, of course, make it 4 straight months of dismal data.
Andrew Gledhill, an economists at Moody's Economy.com said:
"This increase is definitely bad news. This is the worst labor market downturn at least since the 1980s, and I don't expect it to subside soon."
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