New claims for jobless insurance benefits in the United States rose for the second consecutive week amid persistent labor market concerns even as the economy recovers from recession.
The seasonally adjusted initial claims for unemployment insurance benefits in the week ending January 9 stood at 444,000, an increase of 11,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 433,000, the Labor Department said.
Most economists had forecast that claims would be around 437,000.
The four-week moving average, a less volatile indicator than the week-to-week figures, however dipped by 9,000 to 440,750 from the previous week's revised average of 449,750.
The latest data also showed a fall in the total number of Americans receiving unemployment benefits.
The number of seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending January 2 was 4.596 million, a decrease of 211,000 from the preceding week's revised level of 4.807 million, the department said.
Hopes for a quick US economic rebound were dashed last week when government data showed US employers cut 85,000 jobs in December while the unemployment rate held at 10.0 percent.
More than seven million Americans lost their jobs in the recession and nearly 25 million Americans are unemployed, underemployed because they could not find full time work, or have given up looking for work, latest data showed.
The US economy grew at a 2.2 percent pace in the third quarter, reversing four quarters of contraction.
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