More Workers Apply For Jobless Benefits

The number of U.S. workers filing for unemployment benefits remained below 320,000 last week for a ninth straight week, the longest stretch in more than eight years.

“The recent performance of claims paints the strongest portrayal of the labor market since early 1989,” said economist Marilyn Schaja of Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette Securities Corp. in New York.

New applications for unemployment insurance jumped by 6,000 last week to a seasonally adjusted 318,000 from 312,000 a week earlier, the Labor Department reported Thursday. Many analysts had expected a slight decline.

It was the largest number of first-time filings since 324,000 during the week ended Feb. 1. But it still marked the longest string of claims numbering below 320,000 since the 23-week period between September 1988 and February 1989.