The number of people filing for first-time unemployment benefits dipped last week, though the moderation was less than expected and statistics showed that the pace layoffs were still trending higher.
The report is a key real-time glimpse at the health of the labor market, an important topic not just because it is central to overall economic performance, but because it is a key political issue as well.
The U.S. Labor Department revealed Thursday that initial jobless claims came in at 623,000 for the week ended February 7, down 8,000 from the previous week's revised total.
Economists had expected claims to drop to a level around 610,000.
However, the 4-week moving average for initial claims, a statistic that flattens out week-to-week fluctuations in the data, continued to rise in the month, climbing above the 600,000 mark.
The 4-week moving average climbed to 607,500 from the previous week's level of 583,500, indicating that the overall trend continues to point toward increased layoffs, despite the slight dip in overall claims for the week.
The number of people receiving ongoing unemployment help, a figure known as continuing claims, edged up to 4.810 million for the week ended January 31, the most recent week for which the government has data.
This was up from a revised continuing claims figure of 4.799 million in the previous week and represented the highest total on record.
The claims report follows close on the heels of another dismal monthly jobs report released last Friday, which showed that the economy lost another 598,000 jobs in January. The report also indicated that the U.S. shed 3 million jobs during 2008.
In Washington, Congress is poised to pass a compromise economic stimulus package that advocates say will stem the job losses and begin to rebuild the economy.
Critics of the measure say the bill is overloaded with unnecessary spending projects and that tax cuts would have been a more efficient way to promote economic recovery.
After partisan wrangling in both houses of Congress, lawmakers announced Wednesday that they have reached a compromise to reconcile different versions of the stimulus passed by the House and Senate. A bill is expected to be ready for President Barack Obama's signature by the end of the week.
In other economic news released on Thursday, retail sales unexpected climbed 1.0 percent in January, though economists are attributing the surprise increase to discount prices offered by many retailers.
Compared to last year, retail sales were down 9 percent.
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