US new jobless claims up again

New claims for US unemployment benefits rose again after dropping for two weeks, the government said Thursday in a reflection of labor market problems in the recession-hit country.

"Ann Gomez (R) of the County of Los Angeles Department of Human Resources talks to job seekers at the Senior Job Fair at the Arcadia Community Center on October 2 in Arcadia, California. New claims for US unemployment benefits rose again after dropping for two weeks, the government said Thursday in a reflection of labor market problems in the recession-hit country."

The seasonally adjusted number of jobless claims in the week to October 17 rose 2.1 percent or 11,000 to 531,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 520,000, the Labor Department said.

It was higher than the 515,000 forecast by most economists.

The four-week moving average, which smooths out week-to-week volatility, however fell slightly to 532,250 -- a drop of 750 from the previous week's revised average of 533,000.

The total number of Americans receiving unemployment benefits also shrank.

The Labor Department's figures showed the number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending October 10 was was 5.923 million, a decrease of 98,000 from the preceding week's revised level of 6.021 million.

"A woman leads a class for job seekers on unemployment insurance benefits, disabilities insurance and veteran information at the Senior Job Fair at the Arcadia Community Center on October 2, in Arcadia, California. New claims for US unemployment benefits rose again after dropping for two weeks, the government said Thursday in a reflection of labor market problems in the recession-hit country."

The department's weekly report offers one of the most up-to-date snapshots of the job market, critical to the recovery of the US economy which has been in recession since December 2007.

For the labor market to balance, some say claims should reach around 350,000.

The Labor Department also said Thursday that the country's insured unemployment rate was 4.5 percent, a decrease of 0.1 percentage point from the prior week's revised rate of 4.6 percent.

Unemployment remains a key hurdle to recovery, with latest monthly figures in September pushing to jobless rate to a new 26-year high of 9.8 percent with job losses accelerating to 263,000.

Since the start of the recession nearly two years ago, the number of unemployed has increased by 7.6 million to 15.1 million.