Initial Jobless Claims Continue to Rise

Seasonally adjusted initial jobless claims for the week ending January 31 were 626,000, an increase of 35,000 over the previous week, which had been revised up another 3,000. This is the highest number since 1982 during the Reagan years. The four-week running average reached 582,250, a new high for this recession and again the highest since 1982.

Seasonally adjusted continuing claims also reached a new high for the current economic downturn: they reached 4,788,000 for the week ending January 24, with the four-week running average rising to 4,672,000. This represents the highest level in the 41-year data set available from the Department of Labor.