Unemployment Claims up Slightly Last Week

Published on:
13 September 2007 at 06:14 a.m. ET

Written by: Unknown Author –

http://www.insidearm.com/news/00035341-unemployment-claims-up-slightly-last-week/

Claims for unemployment benefits rose last week after falling by the largest amount since February the week before, according to a U.S. Labor Department report Thursday.

Initial claims for unemployment benefits rose by 4,000 to 319,000 for the week ending Sept. 8. The previous week, initial claims had fallen by 22,000.

The unemployment claims report follows a release last week showing that non-farm payrolls fell by an estimated 4,000 in August when analysts were expecting a sizable increase.

An economist with Bear Stearns told MarketWatch that the number of total jobless claims, 319,000, “remains low” and that the firm did not believe there was a weakening labor market in the U.S.

The decrease in non-farm payrolls was the first since August 2003.