New claims for jobless insurance benefits in the United States rose for the second straight week amid persistent labor market concerns even as the economy recovers from the recession, the Labor Department said in a Thursday report. 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 average, 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 drop of 211,000 from the preceding week"s revised level of 4.807 million, the department said. Hopes for a quick U.S. economic rebound were hurt last week when government data showed U.S. 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, the latest data showed. The U.S. economy grew at a 2.2 percent pace in the third quarter, reversing four quarters of contraction.
