Official figures show that new US jobless claims surged to 667,000 in the past week, the highest in more than 26 years, while sales of new home hit a new record low.
The Labor Department said the number of initial claims for unemployment benefits in the week to February 21 rose from a revised 631,000 in the previous week, which was the highest level since 1982.
The four-week moving average was 639,500, an increase of 19,000 from the previous week's revised average.
The US labour market, one of the best indicators of economic momentum, has been under pressure from the global economic crisis as firms slash workers amid a downward spiral.
he report suggests more bad news for the closely watch monthly report on unemployment. The US economy lost 598,000 jobs in January, pushing the unemployment rate to a 16-year high of 7.6%.
Meanwhile, the US government said new home sales dropped 10.2% in January from December to the lowest monthly level on record.
The Commerce Department said January sales of new one-family houses fell to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 309,000, the lowest since data collection began in 1963.
The January figure is 10.2% below the revised December rate of 344,000 and 48.2% down from a year earlier.
Separate figures showed a 5.2% decline in manufactured durable goods last month.
