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USA Today - The Labor Department said Thursday that new applications for unemployment insurance rose a seasonally adjusted 7,000 to 455,000 for the week ended Aug. 2, the highest level since March 2002.
The latest snapshot of layoff filings is worse than analysts expected. Economists were expecting claims to drop to around 430,000.
The new layoff figures were distorted by an outreach program to notify people that they could qualify for additional benefits under a new law.
When people went to state claims offices to apply for extended unemployment benefits, state officials discovered that some were eligible — but had not filed — for their initial unemployment benefits, a Labor Department analyst said. That accounted for some of last week's increase, he said.
According to the American Shareholder's Association, "So, if you fund more unemployment benefits, you get more people claiming them. Hardly a surprise. This report seems to indicate that about 25,000 people are now on the unemployment rolls who otherwise would be finding a job."