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WASHINGTON (AFP) - - New US jobless claims surged to 667,000 in the past week, the highest in over 26 years, data showed Thursday in a sign of ongoing labor market stress.
The Labor Department said the number of initial claims for unemployment benefits in the week to February 21 rose from a revised 631,000 in the prior week that was the highest level since 1982.
The four-week moving average was 639,500, an increase of 19,000 from the previous week's revised average.
The data showed the insured unemployment rate was 3.8 percent for the week ending February 14, an increase from 3.7 percent a week earlier.
That meant unemployment benefits were being paid to 5,112,000 people, an increase of 114,000 from the preceding week.
"The news continues to be the same," analysts at Briefing.com said. "The overriding message remains that the labor market is weakening and that new jobs are difficult to find."
The labor market, one of the best indicators of economic momentum, has been under pressure from the global economic crisis as firms slash workers amid a downward spiral.
The report suggests more bad news for the monthly report on unemployment and US payrolls.
The US economy lost 598,000 jobs in January, pushing the unemployment rate to a 16-year high of 7.6 percent.
