NEW YORK — The number of Americans filing for their first week of unemployment benefits jumped sharply last week, two weeks after hitting a 2-1/2 year low below 400,000.
There were 445,000 initial jobless claims filed in the week ended Jan. 8, the Labor Department said in a weekly report Thursday.
That’s up 35,000 from a revised 410,000 the previous week — when jobless claims climbed back above 400,000 after falling below that mark for the first time in more than two years.
Last week’s rise was bigger than expected. Economists surveyed by Briefing.com had forecast initial claims to edge up to 415,000 in the latest report.
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