US jobless claims rise to the highest level since August

The US Labor Department said today that jobless claims in the United States rose by 181,000 to 965,000, seasonally adjusted, for the week ending January 9, the highest level since late August.

Analysts had expected US jobless claims to register 795,000 applications last week, and the weekly average of US jobless claims during the four weeks rose by 18.2 thousand to 834.2 thousand. Continuing jobless claims in the United States rose by 199,000 to 5.271 million for the week ending January 2, and at least 18.4 million people were receiving unemployment benefits across all programs in late December.