Fate of U.S. Labor Market Hinges on New York as Claims Surge
- Number of people seeking U.S. benefits jumps to one-year high
- Empire State accounted for 80 percent of unadjusted increase
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A surprising surge in requests for unemployment benefits in the U.S. had New York written all over it.
Jobless claims rose by 20,000 to 294,000 in the first week of May, a more than one-year high and exceeding the highest forecast in a Bloomberg survey, a Labor Department report showed Thursday. The Empire State accounted for about 80 percent of the weekly advance before seasonal adjustment.