Initial US weekly jobless claims surged to 417,000 last week, dimming hopes of an imminent recovery in the jobs market, the US Labor Department said today.
New claims for unemployment insurance rose in the week to 20 August from a revised 412,000 the previous week, well above the four-week moving average of 407,500.
The department said that for the week to 6 August, the total number of people claiming unemployment benefits at all levels fell to 7.29m from 7.34m the week earlier, and 10.16m a year earlier.
The US overall unemployment rate remained at a high 9.1% in July, with nearly 14m workers without jobs.
