Jobless Claims Surge

The number of newly laid off people filing claims for unemployment benefits bolted past 400,000 as companies trimmed their work forces to cope with a slowing economy. The Labor Department reported that the number of new applications filed for these benefits rose by a seasonally adjusted 34,000 to 406,000 for the week ending July 19. The last time claims were higher was after the devastation of the 2005 Gulf Coast hurricanes. Then, they spiked to 425,000. The new snapshot of layoffs was worse than economists were forecasting. They were expecting claims to rise to 375,000. A year ago, new claims were much lower — at 308,000. The rise in claims underscores the deterioration in employment conditions.