Posted at 10:45 a.m., Thursday, October 4, 2001

Jobless claims highest in 9 years

Advertiser News Services

As the number of U.S. workers filing new claims for state unemployment benefits soared today to a nine-year high, economists are predicting it could push the U.S. unemployment rate to a four-year high of 5 percent for September.

The four-week moving average of jobless claims, which smoothes out volatility in the weekly numbers, rose last week to 453,500 — the highest since December 1991 — from 424,000 the previous week.

"We are beginning to see secondary impact across the country" from the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, said Cynthia Ambler, a Labor Department spokeswoman.

Job cut announcements rose to a record 248,332 in September, according to the job placement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas — more than four times the number in September 2000.

Those layoffs may not show up on the unemployment rolls for weeks, because federal law requires some companies to give 60 days' notice of mass dismissals.

AMR, the largest airline company, began laying off about 20,000 workers at its American, TWA and American Eagle carriers Friday. Airlines including United, Delta Air Lines Inc. and Continental Airlines Inc. have said they are firing or laying off 92,540 workers.

Cingular Wireless, the nation's No. 2 mobile phone company, and Lucent Technologies Inc., the biggest maker of U.S. phone equipment, announced in late August they would fire workers in Florida, to take effect in late October.

Layoffs are taking place in industries other than travel and tourism, amid worries that people will retrench. And uncertainties raised by the attacks and predictions of a recession this year will make businesses reluctant to hire in the months ahead, analysts say.

The unemployment rate shot to 4.9 percent in August from 4.5 percent, the biggest one-month jump in more than six years, as businesses eliminated 113,000 jobs.