US jobless claims highest in a month

The number of Americans signing up for first-time unemployment benefits rose last week to the highest level in a month, the US government said today.

In a report suggesting an ever-weakening labour market, first-time claims rose to 419,000 in the week ended May 26th up from a revised 411,000 in the previous week, the Labour Department said.

In an indication that the pace of hiring has fallen off, the total number of people continuing to claim benefits reached 2.85 million last week up from 2.76 million in the prior week.

Continued claims are at the highest level since November 1993.

The first-time claims figure was above the 405,000 estimated by Wall Street economists.