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APThe Labor Department reported Thursday that first-time requests for unemployment insurance jumped to a seasonally adjusted 524,000 in the week ending Jan. 10, from an upwardly revised figure of 470,000 the previous week. Analysts had expected 500,000 new claims.
The increase is partly due to a flood of requests from newly-laid off people who delayed filing claims over the holidays, a Labor Department analyst said.
The layoffs continued Thursday with MeadWestvaco, which makes paper and plastic products, saying it will cut some 2,000 employees or about 10 percent of its work force, as it accelerates cost savings this year. On Wednesday, Internet search company Google Inc. said it was closing three engineering offices and cutting 100 recruiters as the recession dampens hiring, and computer equipment maker Seagate Technology said it will eliminate 2,950 jobs, or 6 percent of its work force.
The rise in initial claims came after two weeks of declines that economists said largely reflected those holiday-related distortions in the data. Analysts have said that retailers did not hire as many temporary seasonal workers this year, due to the recession, and so there weren't as many subsequent layoffs.
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