The number of people applying for unemployment benefits jumped 24,000 in the latest week, U.S. data showed Thursday, but the increase in first-time filings appeared to stem largely from the Easter holiday and other factors that distorted the data.
Initial claims shot up to a seasonally adjusted 484,000 in the week ended April 10, the Labor Department said.
The four-week average of initial claims -- a better gauge of employment trends than the volatile weekly number -- also rose, gaining by 7,500 to 457,750.
Claims have unexpectedly risen two straight weeks, but a Labor official said the Easter holiday and a special holiday in California, the nation's largest state, disrupted collection of jobless data. The distortions should fade over the next few weeks, he said.
Economists surveyed by MarketWatch had forecast that claims would drop to 430,000. Claims have to fall to 400,000 or lower to indicate an accelerated hiring trend, economists say.
While the government last week reported the highest monthly job growth in three years, the unemployment rate remains stuck at a stubbornly high 9.7%. And many of the new jobs created in March reflected temporary hiring for the U.S. Census.
Although the U.S. economy's expected to recover throughout 2010, it will take strong and sustained growth to make inroads in unemployment: More than eight million people lost their jobs during the recession.
Initial claims are down 20% from the same week in April 2009, but they are 6% higher compared to the end of last year.
In the week ended April 3, meanwhile, the number of people who continue to receive regular state unemployment checks climbed 73,000 to total a seasonally adjusted 4.64 million.
Yet the four-week moving average dropped 13,750 to 4.64 million, the lowest rate since January 2009.
Because of the severity of the recent recession, the government has offered extended benefits for up to 99 weeks to workers in the hardest hit states. Regular unemployment benefits run out after 26 weeks.
In the week ended March 27, the number of workers receiving extended federal benefits rose by 159,844 to 5.97 million, not seasonally adjusted.
All told, 11.08 million people were collecting some type of unemployment benefits in the week of March 27, up from 11.07 million. The numbers are not seasonally adjusted.
