Washington, DC, December 28, 2006--Applications for state unemployment benefits rose slightly in the latest week while continuing jobless claims climbed to their highest level in almost a year, the Labor Department said Thursday.
Initial jobless claims rose by 1,000 in the week ended December 23 to 317,000, the Labor Department said in a report.
But in a sign of slackening in the U.S. labor market, continuing claims, or people continuing to collect state unemployment benefits, rose by 16,000, to 2.53 million, in the week ended December 16.
It's the highest level since January 28. The four-week average of continuing claims rose to its highest level since February 18, to 2.51 million. The four-week average of initial claims fell by 10,250 to 315,750. This marked the lowest level since the week ended November 11.
