Jobless claim numbers continue to climb

Thursday, Sept. 13, 2001 | 9:52 a.m.

WASHINGTON -- New claims for state unemployment insurance increased last week as the nation's weakening economy continued to take its toll on workers.

The number of workers filing new applications for jobless benefits rose 21,000 to a seasonally adjusted 431,000 for the work week ending Sept. 8, the Labor Department reported today. For the previous week, a revised 410,000 workers filed for jobless benefits.

The total number of laid-off workers drawing unemployment benefits continued to climb, hitting almost 3.35 million -- levels not seen in nearly a decade, since the country was struggling to emerge from the last recession.

Analysts say this week's terrorist attacks are certain to cascade into problems for the U.S. and world economies at a time when consumers, whose confidence was shaky at best with concerns about rising unemployment, were the main force keeping the economy afloat. The nation's unemployment rate topped 4.9 percent in August.

Many economists are predicting that the Federal Reserve will answer with further cuts in U.S. short-term interest rates, possibly before their next meeting Oct. 2.