Jobless Claims Rise to 382K, Tropical Storm Isaac Partly to Blame
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Spencer Platt/Getty Images(WASHINGTON) — Coming off the heels of a dismal jobs report, claims for unemployment benefits jumped by 15,000 during the first week of September, according to figures released Thursday by the Labor Department.
For the week ending Sept. 8, the number of people filing for benefits climbed to 382,000. The previous week, claims stood at 367,000.
The increase may be due in part to the weather. The Labor Department noted that several states had reported increases in initial claims due to Tropical Storm Isaac.
The four-week average, meanwhile, increased by 3,250 to 375,000.
Last month’s unemployment report found that U.S. employers added only 96,000 jobs in August, short of the 125,000 jobs economists had predicted. The unemployment rate, meanwhile, fell to 8.1 percent.
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