LoginMore Americans sought unemployment benefits last week, according to a recent release from the Labor Department.
The latest figures showed that the total increased by 34,000 and marked the biggest rise since April 2011. This news comes after the agency stated that the number of people filing for benefits the previous week had fallen by 24,000. Economists believe that people should wait and see how the job market fares in the months to come and avoid forming any concrete judgements based on the short-term figures.
"All of this is statistical noise," Joshua Shapiro, chief U.S. economist at MFR Inc., wrote in a note to clients, according to USA Today. "What will be more important than these short-term gyrations is where claims settle down after the distortions end. We suspect that the data will point to a soggy labor market."
One state that has suffered mightily during the economic downturn is Michigan.The latest figures from the Michigan Department of Technology, Management and Budget showed that the state's unemployment rate rose to 8.6 percent by one-tenth of a percent, and it is higher than the national rate of 8.2 percent.
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