Informe de Empleo : Jobless claims rise 19,000 to 479,000

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) 
The number of people applying for initial unemployment benefits jumped by 19,000 to 479,000 in the latest week to the highest level since early April, the Labor Department reported Thursday. After falling steadily last year, state jobless claims have flattened out.
They have hovered above the 450,000 range through the first seven months of 2010, reflecting sluggish hiring trends in the U.S. Claims are 5.5% higher compared to the start of the year.
Economists surveyed by MarketWatch had expected initial claims to decline to 453,000 in the week ended July 31.
The statistics helped further boost the value of U.S. government bonds in early trade, with yields on 10-year Treasury bonds falling to 2.93%.
The four-week average of initial claims -- a better gauge of employment trends than the volatile weekly number -- rose by 5,250 to 453,250, according to government data.
The number of workers who continue to receive unemployment checks, meanwhile, fell by 34,000 to 4.54 million in the week ended July 24. The four-week average of continuing claims increased by 25,750 to 4.58 million. I
n the week ended July 17, about 3.31 million jobless workers received extended federal benefits, up from 3.25 million.
The figures are not seasonally adjusted. Extended benefits financed by the federal government are offered to some workers after they exhaust state unemployment insurance, which usually lasts 26 weeks. Benefits have been extended for up to 99 weeks in the states worst hit by the recession. Altogether, 8.56 million people were collecting some type of unemployment benefit in the week ended July 17. That was up from 8.30 million in the prior week. Some 8.2 million Americans lost their jobs during the height of the recession in 2008 and 2009 and many remain out of work. The lack of job growth has become a central issue between Democrats and Republicans as the fall congressional elections approach. At the end of June, the U.S. unemployment rate stood at 9.5%. The government on Friday will report an updated jobless rate when it releases its monthly employment for July.