New jobless claims rise more than expected to 637K

WASHINGTON - New jobless claims rose more than expected last week due partly to an increase in layoffs by the automobile industry, while the number of people continuing to receive unemployment benefits set a record for the 15th straight week.

The Labor Department says the number of people requesting rose to a seasonally adjusted 637,000, from a revised 605,000 in the previous week. That's above analysts' expectations of 610,000.

A department analyst says most of the increase was due to auto layoffs. Economists estimate Chrysler LLC has laid off 27,000 workers in the wake of its April 30 bankruptcy filing.
Continuing jobless claims jumped to 6.56 million from 6.36 million, also higher than analysts expected.

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