Jobless claims higher again

[The Straight Story]

Jobless claims higher again

WASHINGTON, Dec. 17 (UPI) -- First-time claims for U.S. unemployment insurance benefits rose by 7,000 in the week ending Dec. 12, the U.S. Department of Labor said Thursday.

The 480,000 initial claims contributed to a four-week rolling average of 467,500, which was a decrease of 5,250 from the previous week's average.

From Oct. 17 through two weeks ago, initial claims for unemployment benefits dropped by 68,000. The 17,000 additional claims last week and this week's 7,000 cut into those gains and surprised economists, who predicted a drop of 6,000.

The U.S. unemployment rate remained unchanged at 10 percent.

The biggest increases in claims for the week ending Dec. 5 were reported by California with 28,358 additional claims; Georgia, which added 19,454; and North Carolina, which added 18,500, the report said.

State-by-state statistics lag a week behind the national report.

http://www.upi.com/Business_News/2009/12/17/Jobless-claims-higher-again/UPI-89551261066539/