Weekly jobless claims jump to 26-year high

Scott Marion leaves the Michigan Works Employment center in Highland Park, Michigan December 8, 2008.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The number of U.S. workers filing new claims for jobless benefits surged to a 26-year high last week, Labor Department data showed on Thursday, as a deepening recession forced employers to cut back on hirings.

Initial claims for state unemployment insurance benefits jumped by 58,000, the biggest increase since September 2005, to a seasonally adjusted 573,000 in the week ended December 6 from an upwardly revised 515,000 the previous week. That was the highest print since November 1982, when 612,000 workers submitted new claims for unemployment benefits.

A Labor Department official said there were no special factors influencing the report. Analysts polled by Reuters had forecast 525,000 new claims versus a previously reported figure of 509,000 the week before.

The four-week moving average of new jobless claims, a better gauge of underlying labor trends because it smoothes out week-to-week volatility, rose to 540,500 from 526,250 the prior week, the highest since December 18, 1982 when a reading of 554,500 was recorded.

Continuing claims jumped to 4.43 million in the week ended November 29, also a 26-year high, from 4.09 million the previous week. The 338,000 increase in continuing claims matched the gain recorded in the week ended November 30, 1974.

(Reporting by Lucia Mutikani; Editing by Walker Simon)