WASHINGTON - Initial claims surged 35,000 to 445,000 in the week ending Jan. 8, while the four-week moving average for initial claims, a less volatile figure, increased 5,500 to 416,500, the Labor Department reported Thursday.
Labor economists said the increase in claims reflected two consecutive weeks of federal holidays that had caused a backlog of claims. The first full week of the year normally has the highest number of unadjusted claims, they said, adding that the weekly rise does not appear to reflect a cascade of new layoffs.
Economists expected 404,000 initial claims and 4.1 million continuing claims, according to the median estimate from Thomson Reuters.
Meanwhile, the initial claims figure for the week ending Jan. 1 was revised slightly higher to 410,000 from an originally reported 409,000.
Continuing claims fell 248,000 to 3.879 million for the week ending Jan. 1 and continuing claims for the week ending Dec. 25 were revised to 4.127 million from an originally reported 4.103 million.
