It came as a surprise to Wall Street economists! The U.S. Labor Department announced on Thursday that unemployment claims hit the half a million mark last week, the first time that this level was reached since last November.  Initial claims increased by 12,000 to 500,000 last week from the previous week’s revised figure of 488,000.
Earlier this month, the Labor Department reported that the economy lost 131,000 jobs in July and the labor market was weaker in June than initially indicated. Although private sector employers added 71,000 jobs, there were 143,000 layoffs as Census jobs dried up.
July’s unemployment rate remained at 9.5 percent and many economists fear that if growth in the U.S. economy continues to slow, unemployment will rise beyond the current level.
Meanwhile the Bureau of Economic Statistics said that the annual rate of real GDP growth in the first quarter of 2010 was 3.7 percent and second quarter 2.4 percent. But, many analysts believe that growth in the second quarter will be revised downwards to between 1.0 and 1.5 percent.
More than 10 million Americans have lost their jobs since the Great Recession started in December 2007.
