The number of newly laid-off workers filing applications for unemployment benefits unexpectedly rose last week after having fallen sharply in the previous week, according to a Labor Department report on Thursday. The Labor Department said that first-time claims for unemployment benefits rose by 31,000 to a seasonally adjusted 473,000. The increase followed a drop of 41,000 in the previous week which had raised hopes that the labor market could be improving. There have been 8.4 million jobs lost since the recession began in December 2007. Thursday's news crushed analysts' hopes that new claims would continue to decline. Economists surveyed by Thomson Reuters had expected new claims to fall modestly. Still, the four-week average for claims dipped 1,500 to 467,500, near the lows that were reached at the end of last year.
