The number of people applying for unemployment benefits increased last week to the highest level in three months, according to a Thursday Labor Department report. The Labor Department said that weekly applications rose by 11,000 to a seasonally adjusted 428,000. The week included the Labor Day holiday. Applications typically drop during short work weeks. In this case, applications did not drop as much as the department expected, so the seasonally adjusted value rose. A Labor spokesman said the total was not affected by Hurricane Irene. Still, applications appear to be increasing. The four-week average rose for the fourth straight week to 419,500. Applications need to fall below 375,000 to indicate that hiring is increasing enough to lower the unemployment rate. They have not been below that level since February. The economy added zero net jobs in August, the worst showing since September 2010. The unemployment rate stayed at 9.1 percent for the second straight month. The government reported that the economy barely grew in the first half of the year. Lawmakers fought over raising the debt ceiling. Standard & Poor's downgraded long-term U.S. debt for the first time in history. Stocks fell, as the Dow lost nearly 16 percent of its value from July 21 through August 10. Businesses added only 17,000 jobs in August, which was a sharp drop from 156,000 in July. Government cut 17,000 jobs. Combined, total net payrolls did not change. The total number of people receiving benefits dipped 12,000 to 3.73 million, the third straight decline. But that does not include about 3.4 million additional people receiving extended benefits under emergency programs put in place during the recession. In total, about 7.14 million people received benefits for the week ending August 27, the latest data available.
