New claims for jobless benefits in the United States fell unexpectedly last week, but the overall number of people unemployment assistances is at 26-year high, as large companies announced more job cuts Thursday. The U.S. Labor Department reported that initial claims for unemployment insurance dropped to a seasonally adjusted 509,000, from an upwardly revised figure of 530,000 for the previous week. That was significantly below analysts' estimates. But the improved figures came as AT&T Incorporated said Thursday it would cut 12,000 jobs, about 4 percent of its work force, and DuPont said it would cut 2,500 jobs. Meanwhile, the overall number of people claiming unemployment benefits last week reached 4.09 million, the highest level since December 1982. The figure suggests that unemployed people are having an increasingly hard time finding new jobs. The four-week average of initial claims, which smoothes out fluctuations, increased to 524,500, also the highest level since December 1982, the department said. Initial claims last month reached a 16-year high of 543,000. A year ago, they were at 340,000. Employers have eliminated jobs every month this year, shedding 1.2 million positions through October. That has sent the unemployment rate to a 14-year high of 6.5 percent. Economists expect that the Labor Department to report Friday that the rate increased to 6.8 percent in November and companies cut another 320,000 jobs.
