U.S. Initial Jobless Claims Match Highest Since ’82

By Shobhana Chandra

Jan. 22 (Bloomberg) -- The number of Americans filing first- time claims for unemployment benefits matched the highest level in 26 years as firings forced more workers to seek government assistance in a deepening recession.

Initial jobless claims increased by 62,000 to 589,000, more than forecast, in the week ended Jan. 17, from a revised 527,000 the prior week, a Labor Department report showed today in Washington.

Employers who cut 2.6 million U.S. jobs last year may continue to shed workers, weighing on spending and prolonging the slump. President Barack Obama is pushing for quick passage of a stimulus plan that aims to revive the economy and save or create as many as 4 million jobs.

“Job losses will continue through the first part of the year and could extend all the way through 2009,” Ellen Zentner, a senior U.S. economist at Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ Ltd. in New York, said before the report. “Consumer spending is out, frugality is in.”

The Commerce Department said separately that builders broke ground on the fewest homes since records began in 1959. Housing starts slumped 16 percent in December to an annual rate of 550,000, lower than economists had forecast. Building permits, an indicator of future projects, also reached an unprecedented low.

Stocks, Treasuries

Stock-index futures dropped, while Treasuries headed higher. Futures on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Stock Index fell 0.6 percent to 831.70 at 8:38 a.m. in New York. Yields on benchmark 10-year notes retreated to 2.52 percent from 2.55 percent.

Today’s report represents claims applications from the survey week for the monthly non-farm payrolls report and will be closely watched for signals on job losses in January.

Initial claims were estimated to rise to 543,000 from 524,000 initially reported for the prior week, according to the median projection of 40 economists in a Bloomberg News survey. Estimates ranged from 450,000 to 594,000.

Last week’s tally was the same as the total in the week of Dec. 20, which was the highest level since November 1982.

The four-week moving average of initial claims, a less volatile measure, held at 519,250.

The number of people on benefit rolls increased to 4.607 million in the week ended Jan. 10, from 4.510 million the prior week. The unemployment rate among people eligible for benefits, which tends to track the jobless rate, held at 3.4 percent. These data are reported with a one-week lag.

State Patterns

Forty-four states and territories reported an increase in new claims for the week ended Jan. 10, while nine reported a decrease.

Initial jobless claims reflect weekly firings and tend to rise as job growth -- measured by the monthly non-farm payrolls report -- slows.

Economists predict the job-shedding extended into this year. The payrolls report showed a 12th consecutive monthly drop December, bringing total job losses in 2008 to 2.6 million, more than in any year since 1945. The unemployment rate climbed to 7.2 percent, the highest level in almost 16 years.

Retailers are coming off the worst holiday sales season in at least four decades, manufacturers remain in a downturn, and other industries also are contributing to mounting job losses.

Clear Channel Communications Inc., the largest U.S. radio broadcaster, cut 1,850 jobs, or 9 percent of its workforce, amid an advertising slump. The company was taken private last year.

“We are facing an unprecedented time of distress in the general economy -- and the ripple effects have hit some of our largest customers hard,” Chief Executive Officer Mark Mays said in a memo to employees this week.

Companies accelerating firings include Eaton Corp., a Cleveland-based maker of car engine valves and aircraft fuel pumps. The Cleveland, Ohio-based manufacturer this week said it plans to slash 5,200 more jobs worldwide after already shedding 3,400 workers last year.

To contact the reporter on this story: Shobhana Chandra in Washington schandra1@bloomberg.net