The number of unemployed Americans filing for jobless benefits rose surprisingly last week, the Labor Department said in a Thursday report. The Labor Department said that the number of new jobless claims rose to 480,000 last week-up 7,000 from the previous week, which is weaker than the decline to 465,000 that economists had expected. The four-week average for claims did fall to 467,500-the 15th straight decline, viewed as a hopeful sign that the labor market is slowly improving. The four-week average is now at its lowest point since late September 2008, the period when the financial crisis was at its peak. The rise comes unexpectedly, as unemployment claims have been on a downward trend in recent months. The improvement was seen as a sign that jobs cuts are slowing and hiring could pick up as soon as early next year. But the rise in weekly claims of 7,000 last week, which had followed an increase of 19,000 the previous week, shows that the improvement has been coming to a stop. Economists closely monitor jobless claims, which are considered a key gauge of the pace of layoffs with continuing claims viewed as an indication of how quickly laid off workers are getting new jobs. Analysts believe that claims need to fall to about 425,000 for several weeks to signal the economy is actually beginning to add jobs. The government said that the number of people receiving regular benefits rose by 5,000 to 5.19 million for the week ending December 5. That figure does not include millions of people who have used up the regular 26 weeks of benefits typically provided by the state and are now receiving extended benefits for up to 73 additional weeks, paid for by the federal government. The people receiving extended benefits jumped to 4.73 million for the week ending November 28, an increase of 143,759 from the previous week. That big rise reflected the fact that a total of 17 states are now processing claims for the extension of benefits that Congress approved last month. --SPA
