Unemployment Benefits, Jobless | featured news

Weekly applications for U.S. unemployment benefits jumped 46,000 last week to a seasonally adjusted 388,000, the highest in four months. The increase represents a rebound from the previous week's sharp drop. Both swings were largely due to technical factors.

More than 230,000 jobless Americans will lose their unemployment insurance by this weekend as reductions in the federal program that provides extended benefits to the long-term unemployed take broader effect.

The number of people seeking U.S. unemployment benefits suggests hiring is slowing. The Labor Department said Thursday that weekly applications dipped last week by 2,000 to a seasonally adjusted 386,000. But that was only after the department revised up the previous week's data to show 8,000 more people applied for benefits than first estimated.

New claims for unemployment benefits dropped to a fresh four-year low last week, according to a government report on Thursday that offered evidence the jobs market recovery was gaining traction.

The number of people seeking unemployment benefits rose last week to a seasonally adjusted 377,000, after a nearly four-year low the previous week.

The number of people applying for unemployment benefits fell last week to the lowest level in nine months, evidence that the job market is improving.

Republican officials say legislation being drafted in the House would renew an expiring program of unemployment benefits at a time of 9 percent joblessness. The measure also would extend a Social Security payroll tax cut. Both are due to expire at the end of the year. The officials say the cost of provisions will be offset to avoid increasing the deficit.

The jobs crisis has left so many people out of work for so long that most of America's unemployed are no longer receiving unemployment benefits....

New claims for unemployment benefits rose more than expected last week, a government report showed on Thursday, pointing to a labor market that is struggling to regain momentum after job growth faltered in the last two months.

More people applied for unemployment benefits last week, the first increase in three weeks and evidence that the job market is still sluggish.