There were more U.S. workers filing for unemployment benefits last week, a surprise for most economists who had projected that claims would have continued its downward trend.
The U.S. Labor Department said Thursday that, unemployment claims were 480,000, an increase of 8,000 from the previous week’s revised figure of 472,000. The market had anticipated a decline to 460,000.
January jobs report will be released tomorrow by the Labor Department.  Some analysts are projecting a slight rise in the national unemployment rate of 0.1 percent to 10.1 percent.
President Obama has made job creation, which generally lags the broader economic recovery, his number one priority in 2010. Many observers believe that it would take at least 2-3 years before the unemployment rate returns to single digits.
