U.S. initial jobless claims hit 6-month high

The number of unemployed Americans filing for jobless benefits for the first time unexpectedly climbed by 2,000 last week.

The U.S. Labour Department said Thursday that the seasonally adjusted rate of initial jobless claims hit 484,000 people during the week ended Aug. 7.

The four-week moving average was 473,500, an increase of 14,250 from the previous week. Economists pay closer attention to the four-week figure because it smooths out fluctuations.

Initial claims peaked in March 2009 at 651,000. Getting below the 400,000 level and staying there is seen as the sign that the U.S. economy has turned the corner and is actually creating jobs.

After decreasing steadily since the end of 2009, the initial claims figure has now increased in three of the past four weeks and is perilously close to its high point of the year, 490,000, reached in January 2010.

Other recent data reinforces the bleak jobs picture. The government's July jobs report, released Friday, showed that the economy lost a net total of 131,000 jobs last month.

"This has certainly been a fine week for those calling for a sharp slowdown," BMO economist Jennifer Lee said. "Obviously the jobs bill is showing up in these numbers."

Excluding the impact of the elimination of 143,000 temporary census jobs, the economy added a meagre 12,000 positions, as layoffs by state and local governments almost cancelled out weak hiring by businesses.

The total number of people receiving benefits dropped 118,000 to 4.45 million. But that doesn't include the 5.3 million people receiving special extended benefits as a result of legislation passed by Congress in July.

Normally, jobless Americans are entitled to 26 weeks of benefits. But Congress extended that to up to 73 weeks in some hard-hit states as a stimulus measure in 2008 and then again last month.