Jobless Claims in U.S. Rose Last Week to 473,000

Feb. 18 (Bloomberg) -- The number of Americans filing first-time claims for unemployment insurance unexpectedly increased last week, pointing to an uneven recovery in the labor market.

Initial jobless applications rose by 31,000 to 473,000 in the week ended Feb. 13, Labor Department figures showed today in Washington. The total number of people receiving unemployment insurance was unchanged and those receiving extended benefits increased.

Companies may want evidence of accelerating sales before hiring after making the deepest payroll cuts in the post-World War II era. Federal Reserve policy makers said last month that while consumer spending has picked up, it's partly â€쳌constrained by a weak labor market.â€쳌

â€쳌There is still a lot of labor market weakness out there,â€쳌 said Steven Ricchiuto, chief economist at Mizuho Securities USA Inc. in New York. â€쳌I don't think the weather has had as big an impact on claims as many think it has.â€쳌

The Labor Department said it had to estimate filings for Texas, Hawaii and Alabama because it didn't receive data from employment offices in those states. California provided its own estimates instead of complete figures.

All Recipients

Continuing claims held at 4.56 million in the week ended Feb. 6. The continuing claims figure does not include the number of Americans receiving extended benefits under federal programs.

The number of people who've used up their traditional benefits and are now collecting extended payments rose by about 274,500 to 6 million in the week ended Jan. 30.

The unemployment rate among people eligible for benefits, which tends to track the jobless rate, held at 3.5 percent in the week ended Feb. 6, today's report showed. Twenty-four states and territories had an increase in claims for that same week, while 29 had a decrease.

A separate report today from the Labor Department showed wholesale prices in the U.S. accelerated more than anticipated in January, led by a jump in costs of energy, light trucks and pharmaceuticals. The 1.4 percent rise in prices paid to factories, farmers and other producers followed a 0.4 percent increase in December, the government said.