US weekly jobless claims up 44,000 to 357,000, highest since November

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The number of people filing new claims for unemployment insurance jumped in the latest week to its highest level in nearly three months, the Labor Department said today.

First time claims rose 44,000 to 357,000 in the week ended February 10, higher than the 310,000 economists had expected and the highest level since the week ended November 25. Claims in the prior week had risen 5,000 after falling 19,000 a week earlier.

The four-week average of first time claims rose 17,500 to 326,250, the highest level since the week ended December 9.

The department said part of the increase was due to bad weather, which caused the seasonal adjustments to overcompensate. Economists prefer the four-week average because it smoothes out fluctuations in the volatile weekly data.

The number of people continuing to claim unemployment insurance rose 71,000 to 2.56 mln in the week ending February 3 after continuing claims in the prior week slumped by 55,000. That s the highest level of continuing claims since the week ended January 14, 2006.

The four-week average of continuing claims rose 18,500 to 2.52 mln, the highest level since February 16 of last year.