New figures show that US claims for unemployment benefits rose by more than expected last week as harsh weather conditions in some parts of the country kept workers at home and caused a backlog in the processing of claims.
Initial claims for state unemployment benefits jumped 51,000 to a seasonally adjusted 454,000, the highest since late October, the Labor Department said.
It was the largest weekly increase since September 2005. Economists had expected claims to be little changed at 405,000. The previous week's figure was revised slightly down to 403,000 from the previously reported 404,000.
A Labor Department official said four states had reported an increase in claims that was due to snow. In addition, he said, seasonal volatility also affected the data.
Still, the four-week moving average of unemployment claims - a better measure of underlying trends, rose 15,750 to 428,750 last week.
US durable goods orders fall again
New orders for durable goods in the US fell for the third month in a row in in December, led by a drop in commercial aircraft orders, official data showed today.
New durable goods orders fell 2.5% to $191.0 billion, following a 0.1% slip in November, the Commerce Department said.
The December decline in orders for big-ticket goods - such as planes, computers and cars - was steeper than the 1.5% drop forecast by most analysts. Excluding transportation, new orders increased 0.5%, slightly below expectations.
New orders, as well as transportation equipment orders, have been down four of the past five months.
In December, transportation orders had by far the largest drop, down $5.8 billion, or 12.8%, to $39.2 billion. Most of that was due to orders for non-defence aircraft and parts, which plunged $5 billion.
Despite the late-year slide, new orders for durable goods for the full-year 2010 rose 13.6% compared with 2009, the data showed.
